Ma Xue, an analyst at China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), wrote Tuesday that the sanctions “provided Russia with an opportunity for cooperation with third parties and to find substitute markets to thereby evade or reduce the strength of sanctions.”

But China has not rushed to help Russia soften the blow. Chinese officials and commentators have urged caution at drawing American ire and instead suggested China focus on building up its resilience against similar measures that could target the country in future rather than helping Russia now…

Without making public statements, some Chinese institutions appear to be quietly adhering to sanctions, and there are few signs of significant attempts to create a lifeline for the Russian economy. According to Bloomberg News, two of China’s biggest commercial banks, Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), in recent days restricted financing or purchases of Russian commodities.