Chinese Chouzhou Commercial Bank notified clients from Russia and Belarus about the suspension of operations, several entrepreneurs and representatives of business associations told Vedomosti. The newspaper calls Chouzhou “the main bank for Russian importers.”
One of Vedomosti’s interlocutors notes that because of what happened, several deals have already fallen through, and predicts a collapse with the export of goods until March due to long weekend for Chinese New Year.
According to another entrepreneur purchasing equipment for machine tools, he was notified back in December that payments for sanctioned goods would be stopped, but later the restriction was extended: a complete cessation of payments with Russia was introduced. Another interlocutor says that this applies not only to the SWIFT settlement system: the bank refused to work with both the Russian SPFS and the Chinese CIPS.
As foreign trade settlement consultant Iskander Mirgalimov explained, SWIFT can request data on transactions with Russia from the Chinese CIPS system, and the Russian SPFS not all banks are connected.
In addition, the businessman involved in the purchase of equipment added that another bank, one of the three largest in China, closed his foreign currency account, but left the opportunity to make payments in yuan. True, the requirements for payments have been tightened for the entrepreneur: he is asked to confirm that he is in no way connected with the sanctions, does not work for the Russian defense industry, and that the products will not be exported to Crimea.
However, Vedomosti’s interlocutors from business associations believe that for those who specifically import from China, these difficulties are solvable, but using China as a transit zone for purchasing goods for dollars or euros is unlikely to be possible.
The newspaper notes: Chouzhou has become the main clearinghouse for importers due to relatively lenient requirements for transfers and the fact that its headquarters are located in the city of Yiwu, one of the logistics hubs for exports to Russia.
After the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, analysts believed that China, instead of the European Union, has become the main trade exporter to Russia; over the previous year, the volume of imports reached $100 billion, mainly cars, mechanisms, electrical equipment, video and audio equipment.