The official said that recent reports that some Chinese banks have stopped issuing letters of credit for purchases of physical commodities from Russia were a positive sign. This "suggests that, much like has been the pattern for years and years, China has tended to respect the force of US sanctions," the official added. The China-Russia trade relationship has grown significantly since 2014, when the West first imposed sanctions against Russian entities over Moscow's annexation of Crimea. But Chinese banks that do business with Russian banks and other entities hit with full blocking sanctions and put on the Treasury's "specially designated nationals" list could face sanctions themselves and loss of access to the US financial system. "It would do profound damage to its reputation in Europe, but really across the world," the official said of China.

Source: bd News24 February 27, 2022 15:55 UTC