China says trade with Russia should continue as normal

Wang Lutong, director-general of European affairs at China's foreign ministry, told reporters that China is contributing to the global economy by conducting normal trade with Russia, Reuters reported.

"China is not a related party on the crisis of Ukraine. We don't think our normal trade with any other country should be affected," he said.

Wang's comments come a day after an EU-China virtual summit that included the EU's comments on sanctions and China offering assurances that it would seek peace for Ukraine but "in its own way."

Beijing has forged closer ties with Moscow and has repeatedly criticized what it calls illegal and unilateral Western sanctions.

"We oppose sanctions, and the effects of these sanctions also risk spilling to the rest of the world, leading to wars of the currency, wars of trade and finance and also risk jeopardizing the supply chain and industrial chain and globalization and even the economic order," Wang said.

Wang also said there was no progress made during the summit on a stalled investment deal between the two sides.

The EU and China concluded an investment agreement in late 2020, but that was put on hold after Brussels sanctioned Chinese officials over alleged human rights situation in the Xinjiang region, which prompted Beijing to blacklist EU individuals and entities.

"The ball is in the court of Brussels,” Wang said.

"I think the Europeans have got to remove the sanctions first, and then we can explore the possibility of removing other retaliation measures, which is reciprocal," he said.

While ties between China and the EU have been strained, Wang also spoke of common ground between the huge trading partners, saying that the two sides will deepen cooperation on combating climate change.

KI/PR