Izvestia reports that four more Chinese banks have stopped accepting payments in yuan from Russia.
According to the newspaper’s sources, the banks in question are China Citic Bank, ICBC, Industrial Bank and Bank of Taizhou.
The news was confirmed by Alexey Yegarmin, general director of the Business Council of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Alexey Razumovskiy, Russian commercial director of Impaya.
Yegarmin told the newspaper that payments for industrial goods have become more complicated, but China still accepts payments for consumer goods.
Razumovskiy, on the other hand, pointed out that small banks have followed the big banks in making similar decisions due to fears of US secondary sanctions.
However, Razumovskiy said that Chinese banks have returned around 70 to 80 per cent of transactions.
At the same time, the Chinese central bank has imposed new restrictions and now only a small proportion of transactions from Russia pass through the bank, Izvestia reported.
According to the report, it is mainly small Chinese credit institutions that are currently working with Russia.
On the other hand, according to Kommersant, players in the road transport market are worried that cross-border transport with China will slow down or stop due to payment problems.
Igor Chernyshev, director of business development at SOTA Logistic, said that Chinese banks are now rejecting more than 50 per cent of payments from Russia, which has led to a significant drop in international transport volumes.
Ivan Zakharchenko, director of international road transport at Noytech Supply Chain Solutions, said that in some cases it takes months for money to reach China for goods.
In December last year, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order authorising the Treasury Department to punish banks that violate sanctions against Russia.
In response, Zhejiang Chouzhou Commercial Bank, the main payment centre for importers, suspended transactions with Russia.
