China will not join the U.S. and European governments in imposing financial sanctions on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, the country’s banking regulator said Wednesday.
China is a major buyer of Russian oil and gas and the only major government that has not criticized Moscow’s actions in the neighboring country.
Beijing opposes the sanctions, said Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.
“We will not join those sanctions, and we will maintain the usual economic, commercial, and financial exchanges with all relevant parties,” Guo told a news conference. “We disapprove of financial sanctions, especially those launched unilaterally because they do not have much legal basis and will not have good effects.”
