The Chinese are slow taking over the Russian market
The number of companies with Chinese founders or co-founders in Russia increased tenfold in the first half of the 1920s. While in December 2021 specified companies were 1434, in February 2026 their number reached 14 798. Thus, the share of companies with Chinese capital increased from 3.6% to 22.3% of the full number of organisations with abroad participation on the Russian market. This is due to the data of the Rusprofile Counterparties verification and analysis service as quoted by “Knowledge”.
Last year was a evidence in terms of the number of open companies with Chinese participation – 4317. Meanwhile, between 2021 and 1926, 2653 organisations registered with Chinese citizens ceased or closed. Most companies with Chinese founders operate in the retail sector (4210 legal entities), residential and non-residential construction (397) and catering (341). ‘T-Business’ (*) noted that to enter the Russian market, Chinese entrepreneurs not only actively start their own companies, but besides become owners and managers of existing Russian companies. Thus, in 2025, for all 3 companies registered by the Chinese in Russia, there was 1 seized.
"This is not only a statistic, but a reflection of systemic changes in the structure of business links between both countries," says Ilona Gorszzewa-Dolunc, typical of the company "Philary of Russia" (« России») in China. According to her, the increase in the activity of Chinese entrepreneurs in Russia was facilitated by leaving niches previously occupied by Western suppliers and by "the detonation of online commerce".
Chinese entrepreneurs open representations in Russia, strengthen local teams and actively attract specialists from Russian companies in sales, engineering and service support," says Roman Koposow, Deputy manager of "ARB Pro". According to him, the model of "buying ahead in the country and managing the marketplace from within and not just supplying goods" will extend to another sectors outside online trade.
Chinese companies registry legal entities in Russia to straight control sales, logistics and settlements with local partners, noted Jarosław Kabakow, manager of strategy at FG "FINAM". He explained that retail companies require smaller investments, grow faster and let them to rapidly fill free niches while local production requires large investments, technology and long-term stability.
The trend of expansion of Chinese business in Russia will proceed and will lead to an increase in the dependency of the Russian economy on Chinese supplies of equipment, technology and consumer goods, concluded Kabakov.
PS Chinese expansion progresses systematically and discreetly. Where the Russian authorities see only money, there is undoubtedly a clear threat of de facto taking over the full sectors of the economy by Chinese companies, with the undeniable benefit of strong, strategically targeted government support.
Written by Prochor Gromov
(*) «Т-Бизнес»: розничная торговля — самый популярный сегмент для
Chinese entrepreneurs start over 400 fresh companies in Russia per month. Over the last 2 years, the number of companies registered with Chinese citizens has increased by 85% – this is the fastest rate of growth from all abroad countries. This is due to a survey by T-Business (T-Data analytical project), based on open data from the national taxation Service concerning 7.5 million active and closed companies, as well as anonymized data from T-Business customers.
By 2025 the number of registrations of Chinese companies (a limited liability company and single-member business activity) increased by 35%. Meanwhile, the number of fresh Russian limited liability companies decreased by 21% during the same period, while the number of companies from another countries decreased by 27%. The Chinese trust on limited liability companies: in 2025 their share of the full number of companies founded by Chinese citizens amounted to 84%. The number of registrations of specified companies increased by 35% per year, while the number of single-member business activities decreased by 12%.
The largest share in Chinese company registrations in 2025 was on e-commerce (50.9%), wholesale (19%) and retail (9.2%). Over the year, the number of Chinese online trading companies increased 2.4-fold. Moreover, for the first time offline retail has surpassed online in terms of expanding the number of fresh registrations: the number of Chinese LLC companies in retail has increased by 148%, which is 6 percent points more than the e-commerce increase. This increase is driven by Chinese companies entering the marketplace for retail, food, electronics, furniture and lighting.
According to Sergei Zjatikov, manager of net Trade at T-Business, advanced US duties on Chinese goods encourage Chinese producers to search fresh outlets. Russia becomes 1 of the most promising directions of improvement due to geographical proximity, consumer loyalty and niches abandoned by Western brands. At the same time, Chinese companies search direct presence by registering local LLC companies and beginning their own stores to reduce dependence on outlets and control margins.
Chinese companies not only start fresh businesses, but besides take over existing Russian companies. In 2025, for all 3 companies registered by Chinese companies, 1 was taken over. The number of LLC companies and single-member business related to China after registration increased by 10%, reaching 1278 companies. The main acquisition sectors are wholesale (29%), e-commerce (13%), construction (10%) and retail (5.6%).
Every second Chinese company in Russia operates in Moscow and Moscow (51.4%). another leading regions are the Amur region (7.1%), the Sea Country (6.2%), the Chabarovsk Country (3.3%) and the Zabaykal Country (3.1%), as well as Saint Petersburg (6%). The largest percent of individual entrepreneurs of Chinese origin occurs in the Sverval territory (19.6%), Moscow (12.9%) and St. Petersburg (12.8%).
The judaic territory regions enjoy the biggest concentration of Chinese businessAutonomous (15.5%), Amurian circuit (10.8%), Kalmucia (9%), Zabaykalski Country (6.1%), Nadmorski Country (2.5%) and Chabarowski Country (2.2%).
Dmitri Trofimov, manager of Business Startup section at T-Business, notes that Chinese entrepreneurs are 1 of the fastest increasing segments, drawing attention to large banks and trading platforms due to advanced turnover. Competition focuses on creating simple and fast entry points: company registration, digital service location, language service and simplified logistics.
Т-Бизнес: количество регистраций компаний за два года на на 85%
(choice, footnote and crowd. PZ)
