China | On the wish list
How China quietly helps Russia in Ukraine
Its firms send drones, nitrocellulose for rockets and more
May 21st 2026
RUSSIA’S DEPENDENCE on China to sustain its war against Ukraine has steadily increased as Western sanctions have intensified. China maintains that it is neutral in the conflict, denying it gives Russia lethal aid such as finished weapons systems. But by supplying huge volumes of “dual-use” components and materials, it provides vital support for Russia’s military-industrial base. During his state visit to Beijing on May 19th and 20th, Vladimir Putin was a supplicant.
dual
having two parts or aspects 两部分的；双重的；双的
his dual role as composer and conductor
他兼任作曲家和指挥的双重角色
She has dual nationality (= is a citizen of two different countries).
她具有双重国籍。
The piece of furniture serves a dual purpose as a cupboard and as a table.
这件家具有两个用途，既作橱柜也作饭桌。
Chinese microelectronics and semiconductors are critical to Russia’s ability to churn out the precision-guided missiles and drones that pound Ukrainian cities.
To churn out something means to produce large quantities of it very quickly. [V P n (not pron)] [Also V n P] [Informal]
He began to churn out literary compositions in English.
pound: [T] ~ sthto attack an area with a large number of bombs over a period of time 狂轰滥炸
The area is still being pounded by rebel guns.
China also supplies most of the commercial first-person-view (FPV) drones and supporting technologies Russia needs. China also provides Ukraine with many of the same components—cameras, motors, transmissions—needed by FPV drones. But nearly all of their assembly is now Ukrainian.
[U] the process of putting the parts of something together
组装，装配:
instructions for assembly
装配说明（书）
Russia, Ukraine knows, will always be first in the queue.
Russia’s weapons and ammunition factories are almost entirely reliant on Chinese computer-numerical-control machine tools. The Jamestown Foundation, a Washington-based think-tank, estimates that around 90% of Russian machine-tool imports are now from China.
According to Western officials, Russia also depends heavily on China for nitrocellulose, the cotton-derived feedstock that is the propellant for artillery shells, tank rounds and missiles. Russia produces its own at a handful of explosives factories (which the Ukrainians target) but not nearly enough for its wartime needs.
Turkey, through various intermediaries, provided about half of Russia’s imports of nitrocellulose until recently, but the firms involved are now subject to heavy sanctions. Consequently China, allege the Western officials, is ramping up its sales of nitrocellulose to Russia through the Norinco Group, a massive state-owned armaments firm, which uses a pair of subsidiaries. The company has not commented publicly on this.
China insists that nitrocellulose is a product needed for paints and lacquer. To maintain the obfuscation, the four main Russian gunpowder factories reportedly run sister civilian operations. Norinco, Western officials say, tries to conceal sales behind shell companies and foreign intermediaries. China is also stepping up its exports of cotton pulp and cotton cellulose from which nitrocellulose is made. Nearly all of Russia’s cotton pulp previously came from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. But packages of sanctions introduced last year and this year by the European Union on designated Uzbek and Kazakh exporters have begun to have some impact.
There is little likelihood of China reducing its support for Russia’s war machine. Chinese firms are earning handsome profits while Russia provides cheap oil and gas in return. The polite fiction of “dual use” has been artfully maintained. Moreover, to the satisfaction of China’s leaders, it seems certain that after the end of the war in Ukraine, Russia will remain a needy junior partner, dependant on China. ■