China Says No to OFAC Sanctions 👍

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has taken action against China's petrochemical industry.
Several independent refineries in Shandong Province, commonly known as "local refineries," including Shandong Jincheng Petrochemical, Shandong Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical, Hebei Xinhai Chemical, and Shandong Shengxing Chemical, have long been listed on the U.S. Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list under the pretext of "purchasing Iranian oil," facing asset freezes and exclusion from the global financial system.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce officially responded on Saturday (May 2), citing the 2021 "Measures for Blocking Unlawful Extraterritorial Application of Foreign Laws and Measures" ("Blocking Measures"), issuing a blocking order against the sanctions imposed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury on five Chinese petrochemical companies, explicitly requiring any enterprise within China "not to recognize, not to implement, and not to comply" with U.S. sanctions.
Once this blocking order in Beijing takes effect, any enterprise operating within China—including foreign banks, multinational insurance companies, suppliers, and even shipping companies—faces a real legal conflict:
If they cooperate with U.S. sanctions and cease transactions with the five companies, they violate China's "Blocking Measures," risking fines from the Ministry of Commerce, civil claims from Chinese companies, and inclusion in China's "Unreliable Entities List"; If they comply with the Chinese ban and continue transactions with the five companies, they may violate U.S. sanctions laws and be held accountable by OFAC.