China has invoked its “Blocking Rules” for the first time to counter US sanctions, marking a shift from rhetoric to enforcement, leaving companies caught between conflicting legal systems. SHENZHEN: When the United States sanctioned five Chinese refiners accused of trading Iranian oil last month, the move was hardly unusual. But China’s response was. For the first time, it invoked its “Blocking Rules” , a 2021 measure formally known as the Rules on Counteracting Unjustified Extraterritorial