Русский
Russian President Putin plans to visit China in May, he has stated, and will be meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. This would be Putin’s first foreign trip since the presidential elections in March and will follow his presidential inauguration on May 7.
The share of Russian Ruble and Chinese Yuan settlements in Russia’s total foreign trade has surged to almost 70% as Moscow rapidly shifts away from Western currencies, Economic Development Minister Maksim Reshetnikov said last year, with the de-dollarization of Russian trade with China now almost complete. “Our trade is restructuring. If we look at the country’s trade indicators as a whole, 68% of our trade is carried out in Rubles and Yuan, while 95% of our trade with China is settled in Rubles and Yuan. The issue of channels for payments has been solved” Reshetnikov stated.
Recent data from the Russian Economic Development Ministry shows that the Yuan overtook the US dollar in Russia’s import settlements with China in 2022. The RMB Yuan has since been used in Russian trade with Mongolia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Japan, Tajikistan, and Singapore.
Russia’s trade with China reached US$240 billion in 2023, about 20% of its foreign trade total. Moscow is continuing to replace previous Western markets with an ambitious, and largely successful strategy to develop new markets East and in the Global South. China is a key part of this geoeconomic shift.
Further Reading
Russia-China 2024 Trade & Development
We provide a comprehensive breakdown of Russia-China trade, including with mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan in our 2024 Russia’s Pivot To Asia PDF guide. This is a complimentary download and can be accessed in English here and Russian here.
