Beijing China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission Chairman Guo Shuqing said on Wednesday that China opposes unilateral financial sanctions and will not participate in such sanctions imposed by Western countries on Russia.
In the latest sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Western allies decided to cut several Russian banks from the SWIFT global financial messaging system.
“We will not participate in such sanctions, and we will continue normal economic, trade and financial exchanges with relevant parties,” Mr. Guo said at a briefing.
Responding to a question at the briefing, he said unilateral financial sanctions generally have “no good effect” and lack a legal basis.
Given the close ties between Beijing and Moscow, analysts believe that China could help provide an alternative to SWIFT with its settlement system called the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System, although the Chinese network has a very limited range. have access.
Mr Guo said the impact of such sanctions on China’s economy and financial system “is not very clear yet and needs to be looked at,” but should be limited given the resilience of the Chinese economy.
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