An unknown Chinese bank at the center of the flow of money from Russia and Iran -. The Wall Street Journal. Part 1/2 China has become a major hub for illicit money flows, but Washington is hesitant to take action against it. The United States has tried for years to isolate its opponents from the global financial system. But the money continued to flow from countries such as Iran and Russia, largely thanks to banks in China, the sources said. An example of the problem is an unknown regional bank in eastern China that in recent years has become a major conduit for financial transactions with Iran and Russia. According to documents reviewed by the WSJ, those funds were used to purchase Chinese goods in violation of Western sanctions, including those that could be used for military purposes. Zhejiang Chouzhou Commercial Bank (ZCCB) came under the radar of US authorities during the Biden and Trump administrations for taking actions that appeared to be aimed at circumventing sanctions. They also noted that ZCCB stood out among other Chinese banks because of the frequency with which it appeared in US reports on cash flows from Iran and Russia. However, Washington refrained from imposing sanctions against the ZCCB. It was difficult to determine whether ZCCB knew the source of the funds, and Washington feared that sanctions against the bank could worsen relations with Beijing or undermine China's financial system, former officials said. The U.S. faces similar dilemmas with a number of other Chinese banks involved in trade with Russia and Iran, the sources said. Documents reviewed by the publication show that ZCCB was often the target of payments made through A7, a Russian sanctions-busting network that the U.S. Treasury Department called a "significant transnational criminal organization."

An unknown Chinese bank at the center of the flow of money from Russia and Iran -. The Wall Street Journal. Part 1/2 China has become a major hub for illicit money flows, but Washington is hesitant to take action against it. The United States has tried for years to isolate its opponents from the global financial system. But the money continued to flow from countries such as Iran and Russia, largely thanks to banks in China, the sources said. An example of the problem is an unknown regional bank in eastern China that in recent years has become a major conduit for financial transactions with Iran and Russia. According to documents reviewed by the WSJ, those funds were used to purchase Chinese goods in violation of Western sanctions, including those that could be used for military purposes. Zhejiang Chouzhou Commercial Bank (ZCCB) came under the radar of US authorities during the Biden and Trump administrations for taking actions that appeared to be aimed at circumventing sanctions. They also noted that ZCCB stood out among other Chinese banks because of the frequency with which it appeared in US reports on cash flows from Iran and Russia. However, Washington refrained from imposing sanctions against the ZCCB. It was difficult to determine whether ZCCB knew the source of the funds, and Washington feared that sanctions against the bank could worsen relations with Beijing or undermine China's financial system, former officials said. The U.S. faces similar dilemmas with a number of other Chinese banks involved in trade with Russia and Iran, the sources said. Documents reviewed by the publication show that ZCCB was often the target of payments made through A7, a Russian sanctions-busting network that the U.S. Treasury Department called a "significant transnational criminal organization."