New Delhi: China is the largest trading partner of every BRICS nation, highlighting the economic heft Beijing holds within the grouping. Beijing’s economic growth story dominates the economies of the other member-states of the forum.
An analysis of China’s trade with the other 10 member-states of BRICS showcases the importance Beijing has when it comes to the economic lifeline of the grouping. China is Russia’s largest trading partner, with Moscow maintaining a trade surplus of roughly $14 billion, despite facing a large number of sanctions from Western economies.
Similarly, China assumes importance for Iran, being the largest trading partner of the West Asian nation which has been under sanctions for almost five decades.
Chinese exports to India in 2024 touched some $120 billion, according to the United Nations Comtrade database, highlighting the importance of components from Beijing for New Delhi’s own export story.
President Xi Jinping’s visit to India—his first in seven years—comes as part of his larger set of foreign travels in recent weeks, which are likely to culminate with a visit to the US at the end of September. Xi travelled to Bishkek for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Heads of States summit, followed by a state visit to Egypt.
China is set to host the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) forum in November, where Russia has mooted the idea of a G3 meeting between Xi, US President Donald J. Trump and Russian President Vladimir V. Putin. Beijing takes over the BRICS presidency for 2027 from India at New Delhi.
ThePrint analyses Beijing’s trade ties with the BRICS member-states and its central economic role within the grouping. The data is collected from the UN Comtrade database, and not the individual countries’ ministries to ensure uniformity in the data.
Trade in goods with BRICS
Amongst the original five member-states of the BRICS, China continues to remain the dominant trading partner. According to the UN Comtrade database, China’s imports from Russia stood at $129 billion in 2024, while its exports to the European nation were at $115 billion. The almost $250 billion trading relationship highlights the importance Beijing pays to keep the Russian economy ticking.
Russia has been heavily sanctioned by the West since the full-scale war with Ukraine began in 2022. Estimates indicate that over 12,000 sanctions have been imposed on Russia by the member-states of the G7, effectively cutting Moscow out of the global economic system. Despite threats of tariffs and secondary sanctions, China remains the largest purchaser of Russian crude, and the source for a large number of components that aid Moscow’s economic activity.
Similarly, Brazil maintains a long-standing trade surplus with Beijing. In 2024, the South American economy exported roughly $116 billion worth of goods to China, while importing some $72 billion worth of merchandise. The US is Brazil’s second-largest trading partner. The two-way trade between the US and Brazil in 2024 stood at less than $100 billion.
China’s two-way trade with India stood at $137 billion in 2024, according to the UN Comtrade database, with China maintaining a $113 billion trade surplus. China’s total exports to India stood at roughly $120 billion, while Indian merchandise exports stood at around $17.9 billion. In comparison, India’s two-way trade with the US stood at roughly $132 billion during the same period.
The two-way trade between South Africa and China stood at roughly $51 billion in 2024. China’s imports from South Africa stood at roughly $30 billion in 2024, while its exports were at $21 billion.
BRICS expansion and China’s growing trade ties
The expansion of BRICS with the addition of six members did not change the trade mix. All six new members of the grouping—Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—have China as their top trading partner.
Ethiopia imported roughly $31 billion worth of goods from China in 2024, while the African country exported some $4 billion worth of merchandise to the Asian country. None of Ethiopia’s other trade partners are close to the country’s two-way trade with China.
China is the largest source of goods for Egypt. Cairo imported $16.8 billion worth of goods from China, while it exported less than a $1 billion worth of merchandise to Beijing. Similarly, China is the largest source of goods for Iran, exporting some $8.9 billion worth of goods to Tehran in 2024.
Iran’s largest export market is also China, with merchandise worth $4.4 billion exported by Tehran to Beijing in 2024. China and Indonesia maintain a $145 billion trading relationship. China’s exports to Indonesia stood at $76 billion, while its imports from the Southeast Asian nation stood at roughly $71 billion.
The UAE’s largest trading partner is China, with trade in goods touching $101 billion in 2024. India is the UAE’s second largest trading partner with two-way trade at roughly $92 billion. China exported $65 billion worth of merchandise to the UAE, while it imported around $36.2 billion worth of goods.
Similarly with Saudi Arabia, China maintains a trading relationship worth over $100 billion. China’s imports from Riyadh stood at $57.5 billion in 2024, while its exports to Saudi Arabia were worth $50 billion.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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