China ramped up crude from Russia in May, customs data showed Monday, helping to offset losses from Western nations over the invasion of Ukraine.
The spike means Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia to become China's top oil provider as the West . The world's second-biggest economy imported around 8.42 million tonnes of oil from Russia last month - a 55 percent rise on-year.
Beijing has refused to publicly condemn Moscow's war and has instead exacted economic gains from its . It imported 7.82 million tonnes of oil from Saudi Arabia in May.
China bought $7.47 billion worth of Russian energy products last month, about $1 billion more than in April, according to Bloomberg News.
The new customs data comes four months into the war in Ukraine, with buyers from the United States and Europe shunning Russian energy imports or pledging to slash them over the coming months.
India bought six times more Russian oil from March to May compared with the same period last year, while imports by China during that period trippled, data from research firm Rystad Energy shows.
"For now, it is just pure economics that Indian and Chinese refiners are importing more Russian-origin crude oil... as such oil is cheap," said analyst Wei Cheong Ho.
According to the International Energy Agency's latest global oil report, India has overtaken Germany in the last two months as the second-largest importer of Russian crude.
China has been Russia's biggest market for crude oil since 2016.
Although demand in China remains muted due to Covid restrictions, there has been some improvement in the past month as cities loosen controls after the country's worst outbreak since the early days of the pandemic.
China's overall imports from Russia spiked 80 percent in May from a year ago to $10.3 billion, according to customs data. Beijing's purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas surged 54 percent on-year to 397,000 tonnes, even as overall imports of the fuel fell.
China has been accused of providing a diplomatic shield for Russia by criticising Western sanctions on Moscow and arms sales to Kyiv.
Once bitter Cold War rivals, Beijing and Moscow have stepped up cooperation in recent years as a counterbalance to what they see as US global dominance.
This month they unveiled the first road bridge linking the countries, connecting the far eastern Russian city of Blagoveshchensk with the northern Chinese city of Heihe.
Last week Xi assured Putin of China's support on Russian "sovereignty and security" in a call between the two leaders.
Meanwhile, the West has implemented unprecedented sanctions on Russia in retaliation for its war in Ukraine, forcing Moscow to find new markets and suppliers to replace foreign firms that have left Russia following the invasion.
The 27-nation European Union agreed in late May to a package of sanctions that would halt the majority of Russian oil imports.