Well-known Chinese news site NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) recently reported on a recent statement by Alibaba that the company now refuses to accept payments in Russian rubles. The company said it would no longer supply goods to Russia.
NetEase referred to a report published by Russian business newspaper Kommersant for this latest move by Alibaba, the owner of the online shopping portal AliExpress. Russian economists linked the decision to fears of secondary U.S. sanctions. Alibaba is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and uses the U.S. dollar settlement system. The company does not want to lose access to the European and American markets because of its involvement with Russia.
In a similar case not long ago, Chinese security monitoring giant Hikvision withdrew from the Russian market without warning. It did not provide any form of communication or explanation to customers and partners. It not only closed all offices and factories in Russia, but also closed all Russian official websites and exited Russian social networks. Phone calls to the company’s Russian phone numbers went unanswered as well. The news was widely reported in China. As of June 8, however, nearly all of the references to this story were removed from China’s domestic internet.
Sources:
(1) NetEase, May 30, 2024
https://www.163.com/dy/article/J3FLM0JS05566UP9.html
(2) Weibo, June 5, 2024 (Link still alive as of June 8, 2024)
https://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309405042201812926578