New paper provides insight into ‘boycott and buycott’ of Russian goods in China

More than 10% of Chinese citizens who took part in a survey say they are willing to boycott Russian goods and most likely disapprove of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, says new research led by Lancaster University.

This important finding, say the researchers, indicates that a substantial minority of the Chinese population might not share the official position of the Chinese Communist Party despite widespread propaganda and censorship.

Published this week in the Journal of Contemporary China, the research, titled “Willingness to Boycott Russian Goods in China: How Political Ideology Shapes Consumer Preferences in an Authoritarian Context,” is authored by Dr. Barbara Yoxon and Xue Bai of Lancaster University, and Richard Turcsanyi, of Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, says the article, the government of the People’s Republic of China has refused to condemn the violence and developed stronger economic and diplomatic ties with its authoritarian neighbor.

Recent surveys show that most Chinese people hold a positive view of Russia, despite its war with Ukraine. Unlike previous research, the article investigates the motives of those Chinese citizens who are likely to oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

It uses original survey data from 3,029 respondents in China collected as part of the “Sinophone Borderlands—Interaction at the Edges” project to better understand the patterns of political engagement in an authoritarian regime.

The paper suggests there is potential for anti-Russian political action in China and suggests that more organized anti-Russian and pro-Ukrainian campaigns are possible in the future. That action, says the paper, would have the scope to disrupt the profit margins of Russian companies hoping to escape Western sanctions.

In 2023, Russian consumer goods made up 5.1% of China’s 2023 imports and are likely to become even more common in China as Russia becomes more isolated from the Western world.

“While this share of the Chinese market might seem like a low figure, it is important to note that China is home to more than 1.5 billion consumers and even small decreases in the Sino-Russian trade volume would be a significant loss to Russian companies as the war with Ukraine continues,” says the article.

By focusing on the interaction between political ideology and political consumerism, the article has identified a group of individuals who are most likely to participate in activities that go against the ideological status quo in China.

This is a new avenue of research which goes beyond previous studies that focus on ethnocentric and nationalist causes of Chinese “boycott and buycott” practices.

To help determine who is willing to boycott Russian goods, the article delineated three broad political leanings in China: liberals, neo-authoritarians, and the New Left. The results indicated that liberals, who show higher support for free market policies and lower support for social authoritarianism, are more likely than others to express willingness to boycott Russian goods.

The paper argues that liberal individuals are more supportive of the liberal international order and believe that Russia and China should work with, rather than against, multilateral institutions. This means liberals are more likely to interpret NATO’s actions in Eastern Europe as defensive and see Russian actions against Ukraine as unprovoked, aggressive and disproportional.

The article found that individuals with neo-authoritarian and New Left leanings are less likely to support the boycott of Russian goods.

Neo-authoritarians, who desire free market reform but support the existing sociopolitical structures, were against boycotting Russian goods. They believe that the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is an extension of the rivalry between authoritarian China and the liberal United States. They believe that supporting Russia, an allied autocracy, is in China’s national interest.

For the New Left, the belief that NATO and the liberal international order is a form of neocolonial domination by the United States has also led to greater levels of support for Russian goods.

While it is not surprising that individuals with more liberal leanings are likely to oppose Russian actions, adds the paper, this is the first study to date to clearly demonstrate such a link.

Commenting on the paper, Dr. Yoxon says, “The surprising level of anti-Russian attitudes in China suggests that an organized campaign to boycott Russian products might already be underway in China.

“Our findings are important because they show that alternative forms of political participation can be a safe and convenient way for citizens of authoritarian regimes to express their political preferences.”