Moscow's export ban to shore up market, experts say

Russia's export ban on some types of products and equipment in the face of Western sanctions is mainly aimed at safeguarding the country's domestic economic circulation, analysts said on Friday.

Russia's measures were brought in to counter a slew of sanctions from the West that will eventually distort the normal order of global trade, hurting everyone, they said.

Russia on Thursday announced that it would halt exports of more than 200 types of products and equipment until the end of 2022.

The export ban includes technological, telecommunications and medical equipment, as well as agricultural machinery and electrical equipment.

"The export ban is a response by the Russian side to provide stability to the Russian market, which is facing disrupted supplies," said Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

"With such a measure, Russia can prolong the consumption of those products, to offset the negative effects of Western sanctions on its economy to some extent."

Since Russia is not a major producer of those products, the export ban will have only a limited influence on global supplies. However, it will affect Russia's overall trade capacity with other nations, and blunt its role in the global value chain, he said.

With Russia's military operation in Ukraine, Western countries have imposed a series of sanctions against Russia. These actions have stoked fears about energy supply disruptions from the key exporter.

Zheng Lei, vice-president of the Hong Kong International New Economics Research Institute, said countries throughout the world are deeply connected as they are in the same global market, and the sanctions will eventually hurt everyone.

China has been calling for the parties to overcome difficulties in the way of negotiations aimed at achieving peace.

At a news conference after the fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress that concluded in Beijing on Friday, Premier Li Keqiang said the global economy is already struggling under the impact of the pandemic, and sanctions will only damage the economic recovery.