China recorded an unprecedented import of 1.299 million metric tons of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) in September, as per the customs data released by Chinese authorities on Thursday.

This figure represents an approximately 73% increase compared to September 2024, when imports stood at 751,000 tons, according to the Interfax news agency. The previous monthly high was 1 million tons in July 2023.

When including pipeline shipments, Russia supplied 4.078 billion cubic meters of gas to China in September, marking a 37% rise from the same month in the previous year.

This increase highlights Russia’s ongoing pivot toward Asian markets in the wake of Europe significantly decreasing its dependency on Russian gas following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While European nations have continued to import LNG from Russia, the overall demand for piped gas from Russia has sharply declined, leading Moscow to redirect its supplies to China and other Asian markets.

The rise in LNG shipments to China in September coincided with the ramp-up of production at Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 project, which started operations in December 2023 but halted production until November 2024.

Production resumed this year after Novatek introduced discounts up to 40% to attract Chinese customers, as reported by Reuters. Chinese regulators are thought to have approved these imports.

The Arctic LNG 2 project, co-owned by allies of President Vladimir Putin, faced U.S. sanctions in 2024 that imposed restrictions on related vessels and companies.

Despite these sanctions, Chinese buyers have continued acquiring Russian LNG without facing obvious consequences from the U.S.

Other significant Russian LNG producers comprise Sakhalin Energy, Yamal LNG, Gazprom LNG Portovaya, and Cryogas-Vysotsk. In total, 2.765 million tons of Russian LNG were exported to Asia in September, with Japan and South Korea receiving 2.066 million tons, according to Interfax.