An article in SupChina (December 31, 2021) reported on the ties between China and Ukraine, observing that
they have been growing in recent years and in the first half of 2021, agricultural trade between China and
Ukraine increased by 33% over the same period in 2020. China is a key trade partner for Ukraine, providing
14.4% of its imports and a destination for 15.3% of its exports. Ukraine began selling corn to China in 2013
and by 2019 had become its largest supplier, accounting for more than 80% of Chinese corn imports. Also
in 2013, China's paramilitary organisation Xinjiang Construction and Production Corps signed an agreement
with Ukraine's KSG Agro to lease 100,000 hectares (247,105 acres) of agricultural land for cultivation and
pig farming over a 50-year period. Ukraine has 42 million hectares of farmland. Trade turnover in 2021
amounted to $15.4 billion and China has only invested $127 million in Ukraine since 2015. Ukraine supplies
a variety of military equipment to China, including turbofan engines for aircraft, diesel engines for tanks,
and gas turbines for air-to-air missiles. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a Macau-based company
purchased Ukraine's Varyag aircraft carrier at the bargain basement price of $20 million, after claiming it
would never be used for military purposes. The vessel, later renamed the Liaoning, was later refurbished and
ultimately would provide a shortcut for China's People's Liberation Navy to its first aircraft carrier. Ukraine
also has very large iron ore deposits.
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