EU Includes Chinese Banks in 18th Package of Anti-Russian Sanctions

The European Union has included Chinese banks Suifenhe Rural Commercial Bank and Heihe Rural Commercial Bank in the 18th package of anti-Russian sanctions. This was reported by the South China Morning Post (SCMP) newspaper, citing diplomatic sources, TASS writes.

The head offices of both banks are located in Heilongjiang Province in northeastern China, which borders Russia's Far Eastern regions.

According to the publication, Chinese diplomats in Brussels tried to prevent the banks from being included in the sanctions list. The decision to impose restrictions on the two Chinese financial institutions was made ahead of the EU-China summit, which will be held on July 24-25.

The newspaper's sources note that the EU may remove Suifenhe Rural Commercial Bank and Heihe Rural Commercial Bank from the sanctions list in six months if they "prove the fact of termination" of transactions that, according to EU representatives, are carried out in the interests of Russian military industry enterprises.

SCMP previously reported that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned EU diplomacy chief Kaja Kallas "three or four times" about retaliatory measures from Beijing for the inclusion of Chinese banks in the EU sanctions list.