The December sanctions package, which came into force in December 2023, has led to settlement difficulties. Here are several recent observations from working with Chinese banks:
🔖 Three of the four largest Chinese banks have stopped accepting payments from Russia: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China Construction Bank (CCB), and Bank of China; 🔖 It is not a matter of the payment method — due to fears of secondary sanctions, Chinese banks do not accept payments via any payment system: SWIFT, the Russian SPFS, or the Chinese CIPS; 🔖 Companies that transport goods independently face lengthy compliance checks and fund freezes ranging from 14 to 40 days (for example, Zhejiang Chouzhou Commercial Bank, which works with many Russian importers); 🔖 Most Chinese banks with representative offices abroad do not accept payments from Russia.
Overall, even with clear bank requirements for working with Russian companies, some branches of the same Bank of China accept payments, while others may refuse them.
❗️ If you are just starting to work with China, when attempting to make a payment, you may be asked for all details: information about the goods and the final recipient, HS / FEA commodity codes, and complete information about you as the sender of funds.
Of course, the main pressure is on sanctioned sectors, so please check the list of goods that are most likely to encounter payment issues via the link in advance.
For us, this situation does not look like a refusal to work, but rather as a filtering of companies working with the military-industrial complex and sanctioned goods in particular, as well as those implementing grey purchasing schemes through individuals and sole proprietors in China.
If a company has been working with China for a long time and does not fall under these criteria, there is no need to worry — legitimate business will continue to operate, as the Chinese side is interested in transactions with Russia.
If you encounter any problems, reach out to the TransGID team. We will arrange a complete package of permits, process the payment, and deliver the cargo from China to your warehouse.
👉 Send your request with a description of the cargo and route to msk@transgid.com