The Russia-China agricultural trade: a comparative advantages analysis

Agricultural trade between Russia and China has been growing at an unprecedented pace in recent years. The recently announced agreement on the supply of grain from Russia to China within the New Land Grain Corridor lays a solid foundation for long-term cooperation between the two countries in the agricultural sector. However, the persistent trade imbalances do not allow Russian and Chinese agricultural enterprises to unlock their competitive advantages and radically increase mutual trade turnover. The paper calculates the indicators of concentration, diversification, and structural changes in foreign trade, as well as the Revealed Comparative Advantages index for 29 categories of food and agricultural products traded between Russia and China. Based the 2000-2022 data, commodity items are identified where the comparative disadvantages of one country can be compensated by the comparative advantages of another, in particular, grains and oilseeds, fish and crustaceans, and processed vegetables and fruits. The findings of the study can be taken into account by the government bodies and businesses of both countries when developing trade and economic cooperation programs.