India imported 176 million tons of thermal coal in 2023, with 26.2 million tons coming from Russia

The pact laid out guidelines like all use of AI in the military would be "ethical and human-centric,” and that AI will never control “nuclear weapons employment”

In return, Russia was helping China develop military technologies such as submarines, aeronautics missiles, a top US official said

Supplies of advanced tech to Moscow, desperate to sidestep US and EU sanctions, fell this year but China, Hong Kong remain important transshipment hubs

Earlier this week a top US official called on European and NATO countries to send a collective message of concern to China

The world’s most populous country is the globe’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer – and Russia’s best seaborne oil client

Yuan trading accounted for more than 40% of all foreign currency changing hands on the Moscow Exchange in 2023, triple the year before

Many automakers have sold their assets in Russia for a nominal fee, but included buyback options that could one day allow them to return

For November alone, bilateral trade between the two nations rose to $21.5 billion, the highest since February 2022 when the Ukraine war began

The value of bilateral trade between Russia and China surged to $21.18bn last month, its highest since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022

Putin has sent an emissary — Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov — instead, and Kremlin said he would “still play a key role in the main summit meeting”

China has repeatedly denied sending military equipment to Russia since Moscow's all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022