The Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded that China will import more Russian oil for strategic reserves!

May 24, 2022

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On May 20, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin hosted a regular press conference. A reporter asked a question. According to Bloomberg, the Chinese and Russian governments are discussing more oil shipments. China will use these oil as strategic reserves. Can the Foreign Ministry confirm?

Wang Wenbin said, I am not aware of the specific situation you mentioned. As a principle, I would like to reiterate that China and Russia have always carried out normal economic and trade cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. I would also like to stress that unilateral sanctions will not help solve the problem, but will damage the existing economic system and rules.

In response to this issue, according to a report by the Russian TASS news agency on the 20th, Sullivan, assistant to the US President for National Security Affairs, told reporters on the 19th local time that from the perspective of Washington, China’s purchase of Russian oil to supplement its strategic reserves did not violate the US’s implementation of Russia’s oil. Sanctions.

Earlier in the day, Bloomberg reported, citing sources, that China is currently discussing with Russia about increasing the supply of Russian oil, which will be used to replenish China's strategic reserves. A source pointed out that there is no information on the possible supply and supply conditions, and whether the relevant agreement will be signed is still to be determined.

Commenting on the news from the US media, Sullivan said: "We (the United States) prohibit the import of Russian oil, but we do not restrict Russia's oil sales to other countries, so when other countries buy Russian oil, this is the same as what we implement. Sanctions are not contradictory."

"Of course, now the Europeans are considering embargoing Russian oil, and we support that." Sullivan also said that compared with the European Union, the United States would be more likely to take measures to ban oil imports from Russia because the United States "is in a special situation and itself Also an energy producer", while "it is different in Europe".

According to the Chinese embassy in Russia, Zhang Hanhui, the Chinese ambassador to Russia, accepted an exclusive interview with the Russian TASS news agency on May 5, answering the question, "Whether China is ready to buy more Russian oil and gas, and whether China can make up for Russia's possible losses in the European market." When asked about the question, Ambassador Zhang said that China and Russia are each other's important strategic partners in the field of oil and natural gas. In recent years, the cooperation between the two sides has made continuous progress. Energy cooperation with oil and gas as the mainstay has always been the most important, most fruitful, and wide-ranging Sino-Russian pragmatic cooperation.

At present, Russia has become one of China's most important oil and gas suppliers, and China is also an important market for Russia's oil and gas exports. China's energy market has huge potential and demand is rising. The two sides will continue to follow the spirit of equality and mutual benefit, give full play to the leading role of major strategic projects, and continuously deepen the integration of upstream, midstream and downstream cooperation in the traditional energy field, so as to achieve complementary advantages and mutual benefit.

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