Russia-China ties deepen as Beijing buys a record amount of oil from the warring nation in the first half of 2023

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcome ceremony before Russia – China talks in narrow format at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 21, 2023 Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS China imported 2.13 million barrels per day of Russian crude in the first half of 2023. Russia so far this year has been the top oil supplier to China, peaking at 2.57 million barrels a day in June. Chinese customs data implies that Russian imports have been cheaper than crude from other OPEC+ countries, per the FT. China imported a record amount of Russian crude oil…