Russia is clearly the larger of the two: about 17,098,246 km² against 9,596,960 km², roughly 1.8× at true size. Drag one onto the other on the map above to feel the gap.
China sits in Asia, Russia in Europe. On the old Mercator map the latitude gap distorted how large each felt beside the other; at true size the answer is simply 1.8×.
The old map muddied it further: Mercator inflates China about 1.6× and Russia about 6.1×, so on a Mercator-style map this pair appears 6.9× apart instead of the true 1.8×.
China fits 1× into Russia.
China vs Russia: key figures
| Measure | China | Russia |
|---|
| True area | 9,596,960 km² · #3 | 17,098,246 km² · #1 |
| Mercator inflation | 1.6× | 6.1× |
| Apparent on Mercator | 14,925,192 km² | 103,611,951 km² |