China Offers to Learn from Russia's "Resilience" in Fighting Sanctions

Chinese researchers believe the US could soon expand sanctions against CHINA and suggest looking to Russia's experience. They say Beijing needs to develop partnerships with Moscow and "internationalize" the yuan Beijing, China

China should learn from Russia's "resilience" in defending itself against sanctions, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SHMP) reported, citing researchers from a government think tank who interviewed it.

Thus, according to the researchers, China needs to take several steps before possible US sanctions and focus primarily on RUSSIA. In particular, the country needs to:

• take proactive measures to increase energy self-sufficiency;
• enhance the resilience of its industrial chains through regional partnerships and diversification, including by building closer ties with Russia and Kazakhstan;
• improve transparency in food supply chains, including grain and fertilizers;
• “internationalize” the yuan, strengthen the financial infrastructure and optimize cross-border payment processes in yuan.

The authors of the study remind us that despite the unprecedented sanctions against Russia and the freezing of its assets, which should have led to the effect of a “financial nuclear bomb”, their real impact was limited. On the contrary, these restrictions largely undermined the status of the DOLLAR as a global reserve currency, while Russia began to trade with countries outside the West.

“Decoupling, disruption and strangulation of industrial chains are likely to become the norm in future great power competition,” warns Zhang Qizai, deputy DIRECTOR of the Institute of Industrial Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He is one of the researchers who has called on China to prepare for the risks by learning from Russia’s experience.

After the start of the special operation in Ukraine , in addition to Russian companies, several dozen Chinese companies also fell under Western sanctions. In particular, they were accused of supplying dual-use components to Moscow. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) wrote back in the spring that the US was also working on sanctions against Chinese banks. At the same time, problems with payments began to arise between Russian and Chinese banks.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stated that it adheres to a peaceful position in the situation with Ukraine, and has pointed out that it is the United States that is supplying weapons "on the battlefield." The Foreign Ministry called information about Beijing's possible assistance to Moscow disinformation. The Kremlin noted that it has nothing to add to this denial. Russia also opposes illegal sanctions by Western countries.