New US sanctions pose hurdles for China's exports to Russia

As a result of the latest American sanctions, Chinese exporters have stopped delivering products to Russia without advance payment, reported the "Izvestia" daily on Friday, citing the Association of Road Transport Carriers and Forwarders president. The sanctions have alarmed Chinese producers and banks.

Logistics companies and industry organizations told the newspaper that advance payments are primarily required for exporting dual-use products, including electronics, machinery, and factory equipment. The sanctions imposed on Russia for the war in Ukraine have forced Chinese banks to conduct thorough payment checks. As a result, goods have been sitting in warehouses for a long time, causing delivery costs to increase by an average of 15%.

The president of one of the companies told Izvestia that there have been instances where banks refunded money for already shipped products if they did not receive documents in time, ensuring that the dispatch of goods to Russia would not be a reason for sanctions.

Due to concerns about secondary sanctions, Chinese financial organizations sometimes return payments regardless of whether the shipment reached Russia or not. A strange situation has arisen: the shipment arrives in Russia from China, and the amounts paid for it are refunded, she added.

Trade between Russia and China became complicated after the EU introduced the 12th package of sanctions and after a decree by President Joe Biden, under which restrictions were imposed on, among others, banks of third countries, emphasized the Moscow Times portal on August 23 at 10:00 a.m. ET, the US Department of the Treasury added 400 legal and natural persons to the sanctions list, as well as seven tankers. The department's press service explained that its products and services are used to support Russia's war efforts and circumvent previously imposed sanctions.

A few days later, banks in the United Arab Emirates began massively blocking payments for Russian companies for electronic components and consumer electronics from China, dealing a blow to one of the last supply channels for Chinese gadgets and equipment to the Russian Federation, reported the portal.