Russia and China have practically stopped using the dollar and the euro in their mutual transactions and now rely almost entirely on their national currencies, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Tuesday (4). The statement was made during the 11th Russia–China Financial Dialogue in Beijing.
“In terms of settlements, 99.1% are carried out in rubles and yuans, 99.1%,” the minister said. Siluanov noted that the next step is to consolidate this achievement and further deepen the partnership.
According to him, one of the main reasons for this transition is the desire to avoid dependence on the Western financial system. The Russian minister explained that transactions in dollars and euros were processed through banks located in countries with adversarial relations, which could block payments at any moment. Using national currencies eliminates that risk.
On Monday (3), the 30th meeting between the two countries’ prime ministers, Mikhail Mishustin and Li Qiang, took place in Hangzhou, China. The talks focused on strengthening trade and economic ties and reinforcing the energy alliance, with industrial cooperation as a central topic.
The Russian prime minister also highlighted progress in the de-dollarization of trade between Russia and China.
“China is Russia’s largest foreign economic partner. Moreover, the share of the dollar and the euro in trade transactions has already fallen to the level of a statistical margin of error,” Mishustin said.
Earlier, in a closed-door meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Hangzhou, the Russian prime minister stated that relations between Russia and China continue to develop despite Western sanctions and are currently at their highest level ever.
