China threatens Ukraine by listing its companies as war sponsors – Reuters
2 February 2024 08:42
China has warned Ukraine that their bilateral relations could deteriorate due to Kyiv’s listing of more than a dozen Chinese companies as “international war sponsors“. Reuters writes about this with reference to two senior Ukrainian interlocutors familiar with the matter, according to 
China has demanded that Ukraine immediately remove more than a dozen Chinese companies from the list of firms designated as “international war sponsors”, saying it wants Kyiv to “eliminate the negative influence”.
The remarks come after the agency reported that last month, China’s ambassador to Kyiv told senior Ukrainian officials that the companies’ inclusion on the list could damage bilateral ties.
“China strongly opposes the inclusion of Chinese enterprises on the list and demands that Ukraine immediately correct its mistakes and eliminate the negative consequences,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman told Reuters,
– a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman told Reuters.
He did not specify what those consequences might be.
At the moment, the list of international “war sponsors”, according to the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC), includes 48 companies . China has the most representatives – 14 companies – followed by the United States (8), France and Germany (4 each).
The Chinese giants on the list include:
- Alibaba Group Holding Limited;
- Xiaomi Corporation;
- Dahua Technology (the world’s second largest manufacturer of video surveillance equipment);
- China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC);
- China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC Group), and so on.
One of Reuters’ sources noted that the inclusion of the companies in the “blacklist” could have a negative impact on relations between China and Ukraine, but Beijing did not set specific conditions or deadlines, only expressed its position on the list.
Another source of the agency suggests that this may be related to China’s purchases of Ukrainian grain. China remains one of the key consumers of Ukrainian agricultural products, such as grain, sunflower oil, and iron ore. In 2023, China ranked second in terms of imports of Ukrainian products.
It should be noted that the Chinese Embassy in Kyiv and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine have not yet commented on this issue.
The list of “war sponsors” was created by the NACP and includes individuals and legal entities that are automatically included in the World-Check database. This list does not currently have any legal implications, but it may affect the reputation of companies and make their cooperation risky.
