Tuesday☕️

Mar 12, 2024 • 4 min read

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Russian Sanctions:

Three major Chinese state-owned banks, namely the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Bank of China, have stopped facilitating payments from Russian banks under sanctions, as reported by Russia's Izvestia on Wednesday. This halt in transactions began at the onset of 2024, according to Alexey Poroshin, CEO of the investment firm First Group, who spoke to Izvestia.
The change was communicated to their Russian clientele in January, following the European Union's 12th set of sanctions against Russia and the US's implementation of secondary sanctions aimed at those aiding Russia in bypassing these sanctions in December. These measures by the Chinese financial institutions underscore a cautious approach to avoid getting embroiled in the complex web of Western sanctions imposed in response to Russia's conflict with Ukraine.
Poroshin highlighted the critical factor influencing these banks' decision: the economic ties between China and the US are significantly more substantial than those between China and Russia, prompting a cautious stance from Chinese banks towards dealing with sanctioned Russian entities. The strengthening of sanctions by Western nations continues, aiming to pressure Russia's economy, which has demonstrated a degree of robustness. Russia has been able to partially mitigate the effects of these sanctions by redirecting its trade towards Eastern countries like China and India.

Instagram Growth:

Last year, Instagram managed to outpace TikTok in terms of app downloads, a significant shift from the previous trend observed during the pandemic. In 2020, amid global lockdowns, TikTok experienced a surge in popularity, amassing over 1 billion downloads and overtaking Instagram, which recorded 600 million downloads, even despite being banned in India.
However, the momentum shifted as TikTok's download rate began to plateau, whereas Instagram continued to see an upward trajectory in its download figures. According to recent data, Instagram's downloads spiked by 20% to reach 786 million last year, compared to TikTok's modest 4% increase, which resulted in 733 million downloads. Furthermore, TikTok experienced a decline in its user base, losing 13 million users in the last quarter of 2023, while Instagram witnessed a growth of 12 million users during the same period.

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