Russia owes China $169 billion as sanctions deepen Beijing's financial leverage

Russia, Venezuela and Iran together owe China $310.1 billion, or 30.1% of the $1.031 trillion owed to China across 30 countries tracked in the data.

All three countries are under sweeping Western sanctions that restrict their access to financing in U.S. dollars. As a result, Beijing has become a key source of external financing for these isolated economies. For China, borrowers with few alternatives are convenient partners, giving Beijing greater leverage over lending terms and deepening their dependence on Chinese capital.

Beijing’s largest debtors

The three largest debtors are countries facing severe Western restrictions and lacking alternative sources of financing:

Russia — $169 billion (134 billion pounds sterling)

Venezuela — $113 billion (90 billion pounds sterling)

Pakistan — $69 billion (55 billion pounds sterling)

The top 10 borrowers also include Angola at $65 billion, Kazakhstan at $64 billion, Indonesia at $55 billion, Brazil at $54 billion, Argentina at $38 billion, Vietnam at $29 billion and Türkiye at $28 billion.

Geography of debt obligations

Iran, which signed a 25-year strategic cooperation agreement with Beijing in 2021, ranks 11th with $28 billion in debt, equivalent to 22.3 billion pounds sterling.

The group includes Ecuador at $26 billion, South Africa at $21 billion, Laos at $21 billion and Ethiopia at $20 billion. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka each owe $20 billion. Sudan and Uzbekistan each owe $18 billion, while Peru owes $17 billion.

The third group of 10 countries includes Cambodia at $16 billion, Malaysia at $16 billion, Egypt at $15 billion, Nigeria at $15 billion, Myanmar at $14 billion, Zambia at $14 billion, the Democratic Republic of Congo at $13 billion and Kenya at $13 billion.

Turkmenistan and Belarus have the lowest debt levels among the top 30, at $12 billion and $11 billion, respectively. Belarus’s debt is equivalent to 9 billion pounds sterling.

Analysts say Moscow’s enormous dependence on Chinese capital amid Western sanctions is turning Russia into Beijing’s main financial satellite, while other isolated regimes are rapidly losing economic autonomy and fully aligning themselves with the interests of China’s lending expansion. As a result, they say, China is becoming a lender of last resort for autocratic regimes.

Analysts also say this concentration of debt allows Beijing not only to dictate discounts on oil and raw materials but also to convert the financial dependence of Moscow, Caracas and Tehran into direct political influence.