“Support Moscow”
Chinese buy Russian chocolates
03/03/2022 12:28 p.m
Many grocers in Europe are currently protesting the Ukraine war by removing Russian products from their range. In China, the opposite is happening. More and more people are buying sweets and other goods from Russia there.
While shops in the West are removing many Russian-made goods from their shelves because of the invasion of Ukraine, they are particularly popular in China. A Russian-operated online shop on trading platform JD.com thanked its Chinese customers for their support after most items – including chocolate and fabric softener – sold out.
Many products were also no longer available on the website of the online shop of the “Russian State Pavilion”, which it says is supported by the Russian Embassy in China. These included sweets and chocolate waffles. In addition, vodka from St. Petersburg was offered for pre-sale at a price of 528 yuan (75 euros) for six bottles.
“Dear Chinese friends, we thank you for your support of Russia and the Russian State Pavilion during this difficult time,” a man who calls himself Sergey Batsev and poses as a representative of the nonprofit organization Business Russia said in a short video on the online store’s website . “We see the friendship of old Chinese friends in this complicated and ever-changing international situation.”
Local media reported that the video was released on Wednesday and the shop saw a sudden surge in followers – from less than 100,000 on Wednesday morning to more than a million as of this Thursday afternoon. The shop’s customer service declined to answer any further questions. JD.com has not yet responded to inquiries.