Plan to blacklist more Chinese firms for supplying Russia, EU officials to tell Chinese diplomats at today's meet

Accused of propping up Russia’s war economy, China is likely to see more of its firms being blacklisted over helping Moscow evade EU sanctions.

According to a South China Morning Post report, European Union officials at a meeting with Chinese diplomats today are likely to inform them about their intent to add more Chinese companies to a blacklist for allegedly buying European-made goods that are not permitted to be sold to Russia, then exporting them to Russian military buyers.

“The aim of the meeting is to enlist Beijing’s help in closing the loopholes,” South China Morning Post report quoted people familiar with the planning.

In Berlin on Thursday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg slammed China for exporting microelectronics to Russia and helping Moscow with satellite capabilities and imagery.

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“Last year, Russia imported 90 per cent of its microelectronics from China, used to produce missiles, tanks, and aircraft. China is also working to provide Russia with improved satellite capabilities and imagery. All of this helps Moscow to inflict more death and destruction on Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said.

According to the report, previous discussions of this nature have led to the exclusion of Chinese companies from a preliminary blacklist before its publication, following Beijing’s commitment to halt the trade.

These earlier dialogues followed an intense period of lobbying in Brussels by Fu Cong, the former Chinese ambassador to the EU, who has since assumed a new position at the United Nations in New York. Fu’s successor in Brussels has yet to be appointed.

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Nevertheless, in February, three mainland Chinese entities and one based in Hong Kong were added to the blacklist for violating EU sanctions, as part of the bloc’s 13th set of punitive measures targeting Russia’s military.

As Brussels prepares its 14th set of measures, the inclusion of Chinese entities, alongside some from Hong Kong, reflects a broader group of companies under scrutiny.

Bloomberg first reported on the latest list, saying that the firms from China have “provided Russia with satellite images and other technologies”.

China’s supplying of dual-use goods – products that have military applications – to Russia has been a cause for concern in Europe, as the West looks to support Ukraine on the battlefield. Beijing says it is neutral in the war, now in its third year, but Brussels broadly considers it to have sided with Moscow.

Even apart from Ukraine, Friday’s meeting would come at a testy time for EU-China relations, with a series of explosive events piling pressure on bilateral ties all week.

On Tuesday, EU officials spearheaded dramatic raids on the local offices of Chinese surveillance kit maker Nuctech in Warsaw and Rotterdam.

Officers sought evidence of state subsidies from Beijing, as part of a preliminary investigation under the new EU foreign subsidies regulation. A pipeline of cases is believed to be coming under this tool in the months ahead.

With inputs from agencies