China has significantly boosted oil imports from Russia, while the latter has been selling less crude to Europe. An analyst told RT that Beijing has become a more preferable partner in the oil trade for Moscow.

中国大幅增加了从俄罗斯进口的石油，同时俄罗斯对欧洲的原油销售逐渐较少。一位分析人士告诉今日俄罗斯，北京已成为莫斯科石油贸易中更好的合作伙伴。

RT‘s source in Russia’s largest oil exporter Transneft has said that since January 1, the country is pumping more oil to China, while exports to Europe have plunged. Earlier, Bloomberg reported that Russia will have shipped 19 percent less oil through its ports on the Baltic and Black Seas in the first five months of 2018, and sold 43 percent more oil to China through March.

今日俄罗斯的消息来源--俄罗斯最大的石油出口企业俄罗斯石油运输公司（Transneft）称，自1月1日以来，俄罗斯向中国输送了更多石油，而对欧洲的出口则大幅下降。早些时候，彭博社报道称，2018年头5个月，俄罗斯通过波罗的海和黑海港口的石油运输量将减少19%，到今年3月，俄罗斯向中国出口的石油将增加43%。

Russia is the largest seller of oil to both Europe and China. An analyst interviewed by RT has said that shipping more crude to Asia can be regarded as a defensive mechanism in the time of Western sanctions. “Given the current geopolitical conditions, the shift towards China from Europe is a protective measure. This shift in oil trade allows the Russian Federation to some extent to secure the oil industry from the sanctions of the West,” said Anton Pokatovich, chief analyst of Binbank.

俄罗斯是欧洲和中国最大的石油卖家。一名接受今日俄罗斯采访的分析师表示，在西方制裁期间，向亚洲运送更多原油可以被视为一种防御机制。“鉴于目前的地缘政治形势，把出口量从欧洲向中国转移是一种保护措施。石油贸易的这种转移使俄罗斯联邦在某种程度上保护了石油工业免受西方制裁。”Binbank的首席分析师安东波卡托维奇说。
 
The Chinese economy has been developing at a high pace, and selling more oil is also profitable for economic reasons as well, the analyst explains. China is the largest buyer of oil, and has been increasing its imports. “This perspective makes the Chinese energy market one of the most desired for Russian exporters,” he told RT. Russia supplied 5.052 million tons, or 1.32 million barrels per day (bpd), to China in February - up 17.8 percent from a year earlier.

这位分析师解释说，中国经济一直在高速发展，销售更多的石油也是出于经济获利的原因。中国是最大的石油进口国，并一直在增加进口。“这一观点使中国能源市场成为俄罗斯出口商最渴望的市场之一。”今年2月，俄罗斯向中国供应了505.2万吨，或者说每日132万桶，比去年同期增长了17.8%。

The increase in volume happened as a result of a second Sino-Russian oil pipeline, which began operations on January 1. It doubled China‘s capacity to pump oil from the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) system. ESPO connects Russia and China with a direct pipeline. With the launch of oil futures in renminbi, both China and Russia have said they could reduce the use of the US dollar in oil trade.

石油产量的增加，是因为第二条中俄输油管道于1月1日开始运营。该管道使中国从东西伯利亚到太平洋系统(ESPO)抽取石油的能力增加了一倍。ESPO通过一条直接管道连通俄罗斯和中国。随着石油期货以人民币计价，中国和俄罗斯都表示，它们可以减少美元在石油贸易中的使用。