In July, small regional Chinese banks began to refuse to accept payments from Russia. This came as a surprise, since in May it was through these banks that Russian business began to make settlements, believing that they were less susceptible to Western sanctions. Over the past three weeks, the situation with payments to China has become even more complicated. Business representatives report that 98% of Chinese banks no longer accept direct transactions in yuan. However, there are still workarounds for sending money. Russian companies have begun to look for alternative payment methods through third countries. Recently, the number of applications for the services of payment agents working through such countries has increased significantly. The most common route has become payments through Hong Kong banks, where there are credit institutions specializing in settlements with Russia. However, even this method faces difficulties, as some Chinese banks have begun to refuse to work with Hong Kong. Another option is transfers through branches of Russian banks in China, such as VTB and Alfa-Bank. However, there are difficulties here: these banks are forced to buy yuan from other credit institutions and sell them to customers with a margin of the Central Bank rate plus 5%. In addition, many Chinese companies refuse to accept payments received through branches of Russian banks.
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