As Russia’s largest trading partner, China confirmed on Wednesday that it will not impose any financial sanctions on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine last week whereas the United States of America and its allies heavily condemned Moscow for its action with series after series of sanctions imposed.
China’s banking and insurance regulator said that the country opposes and will not join financial sanctions against Russia, according to Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission as well as Chinese Communist Party secretary of the People’s Bank of China.
“We will keep normal economic, trade and financial exchanges with all the relevant parties,” said Guo.
“We disapprove of the financial sanctions, particularly those launched unilaterally, because they don’t have much legal basis and will not have good effects,” he added.
In the early days of the invasion, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to call Russia’s attack on Ukraine an invasion and was more inclined to a negotiation path.
However, some Chinese institutions appear to be quietly adhering to sanctions. Two of China’s biggest commercial banks, Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), in recent days restricted financing or purchases of Russian commodities, according to the report by Bloomberg.
