Russia Ukraine War: Dragon stunned by increasing sanctions on Russia, now China is also retreating with the help of Moscow

Chinese President Xi Jinping has not acted to help Moscow, despite strong ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin and criticism from the West over sanctions against Russia. The Chinese-led development bank Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) suspended all business with Russia and Belarus on March 3, signaling the limits of Beijing and Moscow's ties, Radio Free Europe reported. Similarly, Shanghai-based New Development Bank also suspended business with Russia on the same day.

On Sunday, several companies including PayPal, American Express canceled their operations in Russia and Belarus due to the ongoing military operation in Ukraine. This comes a day after credit card and payments giants MasterCard and Visa announced that all transactions were banned in Russia. Also, their cards issued by Russian banks will no longer work outside the country. However, economic ties between Russia and China have strengthened in recent years. Bilateral trade has been increased to turn China into Russia's largest trading partner. Both countries have sought more deals in the Chinese yuan, which is outside the US-dollar financial system.

Strong relations between Putin and Jinping

The strong ties between Moscow and Beijing were reflected in a meeting on February 5, when President Vladimir Putin met Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics. It was their first face-to-face meeting in more than two years. The China-Russia Comprehensive Partnership of Coordination for a New Round was agreed on 5 June 2019, when Xi visited Russia. This was his eighth visit to Russia since 2013, reflecting the close ties between the two strong peoples.

After all, what is China afraid of?

Chinese state-owned financial institutions are quietly distancing themselves from Russia's economy, even as China has refused to call Putin's actions on Ukraine an invasion and condemned Western-led sanctions. The move reflects a carefully balanced move on the part of Beijing, as it seeks to strengthen ties with Moscow without openly violating sanctions. Indeed, China fears that its access to key Western export markets and the US dollar-focused international financial system could be threatened.