China’s Major Banks Freeze Loans to Iran-Linked Refineries as US Sanctions Bite

China’s financial regulators have instructed China’s largest state banks to stop extending new yuan-denominated loans to refineries sanctioned by the United States for processing Iranian crude oil. This reveals a gap between Beijing’s public stance on sanctions and the private calculations of a financial system that cannot afford to be cut off from the US dollar. China is sending conflicting signals to appease domestic nationalist audiences while navigating the risks of US secondary sanctions.