Russia-Themed Stores Closing Down Across China as Retail Craze Fades

Aug 13, 2025 - 09:52

Updated: 10 months ago

Russia-Themed Stores Closing Down Across China as Retail Craze Fades

Once a trendy fixture in shopping malls across China, Russian goods stores—known for selling snacks, crafts, and souvenirs marketed as authentic imports—are closing in droves.

In less than a year, the fad has gone from rapid expansion to mass liquidation, leaving empty storefronts in major commercial hubs nationwide.

The boom coincided with the early months of the Russia–Ukraine war in 2022, when China’s state-controlled media saturated coverage with pro-Russia narratives. Riding this wave of propaganda and “China–Russia partnership” rhetoric, the stores tapped into consumer curiosity for exotic products. But the appeal is apparently short-lived.

From Tourist Magnet to Empty Shelves

In Nanjing, a flagship store in the scenic Wuyi Lane, once packed with tourists, has quietly swapped its bright red “Authentic Russian Goods” sign for one reading “Snack Market,” according to local Chinese state-controlled Yangtse Evening News.

The news outlet reported Aug. 9 that some shelves were empty. The store owner blamed the collapse on high rents, steep franchise fees, and costly procurement, and said that most tourists preferred Nanjing’s own specialty snacks over foreign-branded goods, leaving the shop with unsold inventory and mounting losses. The owner resorted to selling stock at 70 percent off.

Nearby, the Hexi Wanda shopping district in the same city tells the same story, according to Yangtse Evening News. A branch known for its tent-style décor—once a photo hotspot—has shut down entirely, and another outlet in a food street now sits locked behind a “For Rent” banner.

Made in China?

While the stores initially drew crowds with their exotic branding, complaints soon mounted that many so-called imports were actually made in China.

“What they’re essentially doing is making it seem like the product is made in Russia, plus ten times the original price of the same items that you would actually find in Russia,” David Zhang, host of the show China Insider on Epoch Times sister media NTD, said in a January podcast.

Videos in Zhang’s report showed Russian models hired to stroll through malls, giving the stores an air of authenticity. Yet Russian influencers living in China who visited the stores said they had never seen many of the products in Russia and did not recognize several brands.

Customers later discovered that a so-called “Russian rye bread” was produced in Hebei Province in China, and a “Russian smoked sausage” came from Heilongjiang, a Chinese province that borders Russia.

The closures have extended far beyond Nanjing, sweeping through major cities from Shanghai’s waterfront to Guangzhou’s wholesale markets.

In January, the Russian Embassy in Beijing posted a statement on Chinese messaging app and social media platform WeChat clarifying that only a handful of Russian State Pavilions backed by the Russian Export Center were officially authorized. It urged consumers to be wary of counterfeit Russian imports.

Shortly after, market regulators across China launched inspections targeting business licenses, product quality, labeling, and import documentation.

China–Russia Relations

At their peak, Russian goods stores were a commercial extension of China’s diplomatic courtship with Moscow. In May 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping reaffirmed their “no limits” partnership, as Russia faced deepening isolation from the West over its war in Ukraine.

Yuan Hongbing, an Australia-based Chinese novelist and dissident, said the China–Russia partnership itself may be on shaky ground. If the Russia-Ukraine war ends, given President Donald Trump’s current diplomatic push, and if U.S.–Russia relations improve, he argues, the shared wartime interests between Beijing and Moscow could vanish.

“Reports from my reliable sources within the CCP indicate that neither before nor after Trump’s recent call with Putin did Putin inform Xi, effectively sidelining him,” wrote Yuan. “This suggests that the relationship between the United States and Russia could improve once the war concludes.”

Li Jing contributed to this report.