The main bank of the People’s Republic of China for Russian importers has stopped settlements with the Russian Federation – Kommersant

The Chinese bank Chouzhou Commercial Bank informed clients about the suspension of transactions with Russia, they report “Vedomosti” citing three businessmen, business associations and financial advisors.

The publication’s interlocutors clarified that the bank’s managers last week notified clients that the financial institution would terminate relations with any Belarusian or Russian persons. The owner of one of the companies told the newspaper that because of the bank’s decision, his company had already failed several deals.

Vedomosti notes that due to the stoppage of payments and the onset of the Chinese New Year, a logistics collapse is almost inevitable – it will be difficult to export goods until March due to the long weekend (from February 10 to 17). The newspaper claims that Chouzhou is the main bank for Russian importers due to its relatively lenient compliance and convenient geographical location of its headquarters.

On December 22, 2023, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order that made it much easier for the United States Treasury Department to impose restrictions on banks that violate sanctions against Russia. After this, Turkish financial organizations began to refuse to work with Russian banks everywhere. Similar problems began to arise with Chinese banks in January 2024.

Read more in the Kommersant article. “Lyra awakened the evil”.

Erdni Kagaltynov