China and Ukraine should compartmentalize their economic relationship

China and Ukraine should compartmentalize their economic relationship, not allowing President Zelenskiy’s sanctions on Chinese companies investing in Motor Sich to poison wider bilateral trade and investment ties, argues Zhao Huirong, a guest writer in China Daily, owned by the Chinese Communist Party. “The sanctions are targeted only at the companies involved in the [aircraft engine] deal, not at those engaged in joint Sino-Ukrainian projects,” writes Zhao, an Eastern Europe research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. “Zelenskiy doesn’t want to harm Sino-Ukrainian relations and instead seeks to forge deeper commercial ties with China.” However, he warns Motor Sich sanctions “have reduced the chances of a substantial increase in Chinese investment in Ukraine and prompted potential investors to consider the political risks in the country before investing.”