Some 4,431.6 tons of Russian soybeans were cleared by Chinese customs after inspection and quarantine on Monday, Nanjing customs announced on its official WeChat account. 

This was the first batch of Russian soybeans entering China since it approved soybean imports from all parts of Russia in late July.

China imported 817,000 tons of soybeans from Russia in 2018, up 64.7 percent year on year, and accounted for 93 percent of Russia's total soybean exports, Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday citing data from Russian market analysis company APK-Inform. China has been the biggest importer of Russian soybeans.

The buyer, China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO) Trading, imported the soybeans by sea at Nantong Port in East China's Jiangsu Province. Waterway and sea transport have been newly added to Russia's process for exporting soybeans to China, according to a recent statement of the General Administration of Customs.