Key Chinese commercial bank halts transactions with Russians, Belarusians amid growing sanctions fears

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - A Chinese commercial bank, which has been key to trade with Russia, has notified its customers that all operations with Russian or Belarusian organizations have been terminated, local media reported on Wednesday.

The Chinese Chouzhou Commercial Bank has informed customers last week that all operations with Russia and Belarus would be discontinued, the Russian daily Vedomosti reported, citing multiple sources.

The media outlet warns Russian citizens that the cessation of bank transactions on the eve of the Chinese New Year will result in another problem.

It will be impossible to transport ordered goods to Russia until March because everything will be closed for the holiday from Feb. 10 to 17, limiting the opportunity to address the issue, it added.

The daily emphasized that the refusal to conduct transactions through the Western SWIFT payment system and the dollar in favor of national payment systems, Russian SPFS and Chinese CIPS, and in national currencies – yuan and ruble – failed because SWIFT exerts pressure on CIPS, demanding information about the volume of financial transactions with Russia.

Also, not all Chinese banks use the national payment system, and using multiple payment systems complicates matters.

Besides, even if the movement of money is hidden from SWIFT, it is reflected in bank documents, and the West can acquire the necessary information through audit reports, it said.

The newspaper claimed that other Chinese banks are also wrapping up cooperation with Russia.

According to the experts interviewed by the daily, China will most likely keep the option for Russian companies to buy Chinese goods, but it will be impossible to buy Western-made products through China in the future.