Chinese banks have recently introduced stricter compliance measures for payments originating from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India, and Hong Kong, which have historically been important trade partners for Russia. The purpose of these measures is to identify Russian businesses that may be using third countries as intermediaries to carry out transactions. In order to ensure transparency, Chinese banks now require additional documentation to confirm that goods will be directly shipped to these countries. However, this new requirement has resulted in delays in the processing of Russian payments. Previously, similar measures were only implemented for transactions originating from Turkey. However, in light of the 12th round of anti-Russian sanctions, Chinese banks have decided to expand these measures. The banks are concerned about the potential imposition of secondary sanctions for facilitating settlements related to war-related activities.
