The number of companies in Russia with Chinese founders or co-founders has increased tenfold since 2022. Businesses with a Chinese stake now account for about 20% of all organizations with foreign participation on the Russian market, Vedomosti reports, citing data from Rusprofile, a counterparty verification and analysis service.
At the end of December 2021, the share of companies with Chinese participation stood at 3.6%, while as of February this year it had reached 22.3%. Over the same period, the number of companies with a Chinese stake in the Russian market rose from 1,434 to 14,798 — roughly a tenfold increase. The number of such firms that closed during that time was five times lower, at around 2,500.
The year 2025 was a record one for the number of newly opened companies with Chinese participation — about 4,300. Most companies with Chinese founders operate in trade, construction, and food service.
The newspaper notes that one reason for such strong Chinese interest in the market may be Russia’s broader reorientation of foreign trade toward China. It is also easier for Chinese companies to control logistics, payments, and work with marketplaces and supplies when they have firms in Russia. At the same time, Yaroslav Kabakov, Strategy Director at Finam Financial Group, told the newspaper that this trend could lead to growing dependence of the Russian market on supplies from China — including equipment, technologies, and consumer goods.
The increased activity of Chinese entrepreneurs in Russia followed the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine and the withdrawal of many foreign companies from the Russian market.
“This is not just statistics, but a reflection of systemic changes in the structure of business ties between our countries,” Vedomosti quotes Ilona Gorsheneva-Dolunts, Opora Russia’s representative in China, as saying.
For example, after Western automakers left, the Russian market was flooded with Chinese cars. By the end of 2024, however, the expansion of Chinese manufacturers had stalled. This coincided with the entry into force of the Industry and Trade Ministry’s decision to gradually increase the recycling fee on cars and special equipment. Still, as economist Vakhtang Partsvaniya told The Insider, this is unlikely to produce the expected effect of production localization.
It later became known that Chinese automaker Chery plans to leave the Russian market by 2027 because of the threat of sanctions.
