21 October 2026, 15:44

A regular meeting of the heads of government of Russia and China was held in St. Petersburg, where fuel pellet supplies were discussed. Specific dates for the start of supplies were named, but no details were provided on the cooperation mechanism. Earlier, as IAA “INFOBIO” reported, there were plans to reclassify pellets from “wood waste” to “alternative fuel.” This would make it possible to circumvent the Chinese law banning pellet imports into the PRC.

On October 21, Russian-Chinese negotiations were held in St. Petersburg, and the 31st regular meeting of the heads of government of Russia and China took place. Following the event, Mikhail Mishustin and Li Qiang signed a joint communiqué, the Russian Cabinet of Ministers reports.
After the negotiations, Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov spoke to journalists and said that the first trial shipments of pellets from Russia to China are expected in November of the current year.
“We are starting trial shipments of pellets to China in November. Last year we agreed to remove the barriers. It is clear that opening the Chinese market is a fairly significant issue for our woodworking industry. What was the problem? They perceive pellets as garbage, while we perceive them as fuel. We aligned these approaches and negotiated,” the minister said. “Now they also have a whole set of their own requirements. They changed them gradually. Now the first shipment should take place.”
As IAA “INFOBIO” reported earlier, the Chinese market for Russian wood fuel pellets and briquettes still remains closed because this product is classified as “solid waste,” whose import is prohibited. But literally a month ago, the Krasnoyarsk timber industry complex “Kraslesinvest” agreed on significant supplies of Russian fuel pellets to the northern provinces of China. In 2024, “Luzales-Tikhvin” from Leningrad Oblast also exported a small amount of pellets to the border area of the PRC adjacent to Russia. Despite the nationwide ban on pellet imports, China permits their import into territories located no farther than 100 km from the state border.