Beijing is not partaking in Western sanctions against Russia and opposes such unilateral measures, the country’s banking regulator said on March 2. “As far as financial sanctions are concerned, we don’t approve of them, particularly those launched unilaterally, because they won’t have good effects and don’t have much legal basis,” said Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. “We won’t join such sanctions and will keep up normal trade and financial exchanges with relevant parties,” he told reporters during a press conference. China has remained Russia’s largest trading partner for 12 years, according to Chinese commerce authorities. The two countries have fostered increasingly close relationships in recent years, with total bilateral trade last year reaching a record $146.9 billion, marking a 35.9 percent jump from the year prior. At a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in early February, Chinese leader Xi Jinping expressed hope to …