BEIJING — Several Chinese public
banks are limiting financing to purchase raw materials from Russia for fear of
Western sanctions following the invasion of
Ukraine, Bloomberg news agency
reported on Saturday.
اضافة اعلان
China and Russia have strengthened their
ties considerably since
Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and subsequent
Western sanctions.
To power its growth, the Asian giant has
also increased its purchases of Russian commodities, with about 30 percent of
Russian oil and gas now sold to China.
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at
least two of China’s largest state-owned banks,
ICBC and Bank of China, are
restricting funding for the purchase of Russian commodities, Bloomberg said.
The decision was taken for fear that
allowing funding could be perceived as support for Moscow’s invasion and risk
sanctions from the United States and its allies, the US news agency said,
citing unidentified sources.
Bloomberg said the move may only be
temporary.
ICBC is the world’s largest bank by assets,
while
Bank of China is the country’s largest commercial bank for currency
trading.
US sanctions could potentially deprive them
of access to the dollar.
Russian President
Vladimir Putin’s invasion
of Ukraine on Thursday sparked a wave of international sanctions against
Moscow, mainly from Western countries.
Washington has, among other things, imposed
sanctions on energy giant Gazprom and other large Russian companies, which will
no longer be able to raise money on Western financial markets.
China is walking a diplomatic tightrope over
the Ukraine conflict. It does not want to directly oppose its ally Russia.
While visiting Beijing for the
Winter Olympics earlier in February, Putin signed important agreements with his
Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. The two countries notably agreed to strengthen
their cooperation in the financial sector and on the supply of gas.
But while Beijing has not condemned the
invasion of Ukraine, it has also stopped short of outright support.
China abstained on Friday’s
United Nations resolution
condemning Russia’s “aggression” against Ukraine and demanding the immediate
withdrawal of its troops, which Russia vetoed.
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