China’s Ministry of Commerce on 13 August invoked the country’s Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law to place Lithuanian lenders UAB Urbo Bankas and AB Mano Bankas on its countermeasures list. Effective immediately, Chinese organisations and individuals are barred from conducting transactions, cooperation or any other activities with the two banks. Beijing said the step responds to the European Union’s decision to add two Chinese institutions—Heihe Rural Commercial Bank and Heilongjiang Suifenhe Rural Commercial Bank—to the bloc’s 18th package of sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which entered into force on 9 August. The Commerce Ministry argued that Brussels’ move “gravely violates international law” and harms the legitimate interests of Chinese firms. China urged the EU to “correct its wrongdoings” and safeguard long-standing economic and financial ties. The tit-for-tat measures deepen tensions between the world’s second-largest economy and its second-biggest trading partner as both sides increasingly wield financial sanctions in geopolitical disputes.