As the West watches Xi-Putin meetings, China touts crackdown on military goods to Russia

China’s Ministry of Commerce on Thursday emphasized the country’s efforts to restrict illegal exports of military goods to Russia as it seeks to cast Beijing as a neutral player amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The remarks were made during the week of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia. In a meeting on the sidelines of the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping had told Russian President Vladimir Putin the two countries’ “profound” relationship will not change despite the turbulence in global geopolitics.

China has walked a diplomatic tightrope throughout the Russia-Ukraine war. Beijing has not condemned Russia for invading Ukraine, but has also not directly provided Moscow with weapons and ammunition.

The commerce ministry’s statement “clearly signals that Chinese leaders are sensitive to Western criticism” that exports from the country were “keeping Russia’s war economy afloat,” said Gabriel Wildau, managing director at Teneo. He added that it sent another message to Moscow that Beijing’s support is not unlimited.

As part of its strongest denunciation to date, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in July called on Beijing to “cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort,” including dual-use items. The term refers to goods or technologies that can be used for civilian as well as military purposes.

China on Saturday unveiled an export control law for dual-use items, set to take effect Dec. 1. It came after the U.S. sanctioned two Chinese companies for allegedly helping Russia build long-range attack drones.

The new regulations would put in place a licensing system for the export of dual-use items, as well as create a list of restricted goods, with exporters of such goods having to disclose the ultimate users and intended use of the exported goods.

“Since the Ukraine crisis, China has issued several drone control announcements and has clearly said civilian drones must not be illegally used for military purposes,” He Yadong, a spokesperson of the commerce ministry, said at a press conference on Thursday, according to CNBC’s translation of the Chinese. He added that law enforcement officials have strengthened review of export licenses for drones, and ramped up inspections of “illegal exports.”

Despite the timing of its release, the text of China’s new export…