In the ongoing worldwide trend toward de-dollarization, the majority of trade between China and Russia is now being conducted in their national currencies, revealed Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
In a recent conversation with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing, Mishustin shared that roughly 70% of cross-border transactions between the two nations are now taking place in rubles or yuan.
This marks a significant shift from prior years when the bulk of these transactions were dominated by the US dollar and euro.
“70% of cross-border settlements between Russia and China are already conducted in national currencies – rubles and yuan,” the Russian Prime Minister articulated.
The move towards national currencies was precipitated by Russia’s growing unease with the dollar and euro’s reliability, according to Russian news sources.
Concerns have been exacerbated by Western sanctions, targeting Russia’s cross-border transactions amid the ongoing Ukraine conflict.
The change has therefore been viewed by Moscow as an essential step towards preserving its economic sovereignty.
Mishustin’s revelations were made public during his appearance at a business forum in Shanghai earlier this week.
There, he drew attention to the considerable impact of this currency shift on bilateral trade volumes between Russia and China.
The mutual decision to rely predominantly on national currencies, he noted, has been instrumental in boosting trade between the nations, which is expected to reach the $200 billion benchmark earlier than anticipated this year.
“While in 2021 only about a quarter of settlements between our countries were made in national currencies, last year it was almost two-thirds,” Mishustin declared at the forum.
He further promised to augment “the independence of bilateral financial cooperation and thereby strengthen economic sovereignty.”
These developments suggest a consistent effort to further decrease reliance on global currencies in favor of national ones, in an attempt to reinforce economic resilience amid geopolitical tensions.
