Russia’s citrus market continues to increase purchases from China. According to data from China Customs, the value of Chinese orange and mandarin shipments to Russia reached record levels for the first half of the year in the history of bilateral trade in January–June 2026.

Category trends

The value of imports of key Chinese citrus categories into Russia changed as follows in January–June 2026:

• Oranges: shipments increased by 8% year on year to USD 9.4 million.
• Mandarins: imports rose by more than one-third to USD 50.3 million.
• Lemons: the value of shipments declined by 3% to USD 14.8 million.

Russia remains a significant export market for Chinese citrus fruit. In the first half of the year, the Russian market accounted for 9% of China’s orange exports, 7% of its mandarin exports, and 18% of its lemon shipments.

China Customs data reflect the value of shipments. In physical terms, Russia’s imports of citrus fruit from China increased by almost one-third, or 32%, to 98,400 tonnes in the first half of 2026, according to Rosselkhoznadzor. The category includes oranges, mandarins, clementines, lemons, limes, grapefruits, and other citrus fruit.

China remains a growing, but not the largest, supplier of citrus fruit to the Russian market. According to Rosselkhoznadzor, Egypt and Türkiye were the main supplying countries in the first half of the year, accounting for more than two-thirds of Russia’s total citrus imports.