China has lifted sanctions on two Lithuanian banks, Urbo Bankas and Mano Bankas, in a reciprocal step following a European Union decision to remove restrictions on Chinese financial institutions.
The move was announced by China’s state news agency Xinhua News Agency, which said the measures were removed after the European Union lifted sanctions on Heihe Rural Commercial Bank Co and Heilongjiang Suifenhe Rural Commercial Bank Co on April 23.
“China has decided to lift corresponding countermeasures imposed under the Ministry of Commerce’s Order No. 5 of 2025 on the two EU banks […] and remove them from the countermeasures list as of April 24, 2026 (Beijing time),” the report said.
Both Lithuanian banks said they learned of the decision from public sources and had not been formally notified.
“We became aware of this through publicly available information. The previous sanctions had no impact on the bank’s operations,” Mano Bankas said in a statement.
Marius Arlauskas, head of administration at Urbo Bankas, said the bank had likewise not received official notification, either when the sanctions were imposed last August or when they were lifted.
He said the measures had no significant effect on the bank’s business, noting that most of its corporate and private clients are Lithuanian residents and that the bank does not conduct financial transactions in China or maintain business ties with Chinese entities.
Arlauskas added that transfers to accounts in Chinese financial institutions had represented only a negligible share of the bank’s overall transactions prior to the sanctions.
“Of course, if after the lifting of sanctions our clients can carry out financial transactions with Chinese residents, we view that positively,” he said.
The sanctions were originally introduced by China as a countermeasure after the EU, as part of its 18th sanctions package in July 2025, blacklisted the two Chinese regional banks.
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