The number of Chinese companies that have suspended operations in the Russian market has now reached five, after drone maker DJI’s decision to halt commercial activities in Russia. Russia and Ukraine this week.
Russian and Ukrainian forces use DJI drones in their ongoing conflict, aiding in operations ranging from general battlefield surveillance to giving coordinates of troop locations to providing precise targets for artillery. The company, which is headquartered in China’s Xinjiang, had previously expressed its opposition to the use of its products for military purposes, but said it was unable to disable individual devices in this area, according to a report by the American magazine Newsweek.
“DJI is reassessing compliance requirements internally. Pending the current review, DJI will temporarily suspend all commercial activities in Russia and Ukraine,” the popular drone company said on its website Monday.
And in March, Mykhailo Fedorov, the Ukrainian minister, called on DJI to stop selling its drones in Russia, which he said were being used by its soldiers for military purposes to kill civilians.
Last week the company, which has a large footprint in Europe and North America, said it would “never accept any use of its products to cause harm.” She said her business partners had committed “not to sell their products to customers who clearly plan to use them for military purposes, and they understand that we will terminate our business relationship with them if they can’t comply.”
According to a list compiled by experts at the Yale School of Management, more than 750 companies have reduced their operations in Russia since Vladimir Putin ordered the military operation in Ukraine nine weeks ago. The research team, led by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, classifies companies into five categories, from those that are still in existence to those that have withdrawn completely from Russia.
No Chinese company on the list has withdrawn from the Russian market since February 24. In fact, the majority have remained and some are planning to expand, and among the biggest familiar names are Alibaba, Alibaba, and tech companies Tencent and Xiaomi.
More recently, UnionPay, the largest credit card brand in China, decided not to expand its presence in Russia, despite the vacuum left by the exit of US Visa and MasterCard. UnionPay appears to be wary of potential secondary sanctions from the West, a prospect that makes Russia less attractive compared to accessing US or European markets.