According to data from the Moscow Stock Exchange on August 18, for the first time, transactions in yuan/ rouble have exceeded USD/ rouble.
The trading volume of yuan/UB reached 45.37 billion rubles (756 million USD) at 11:26 GMT on August 18 compared to the trading volume of rubles/USD of 43.7 billion rubles (729 million USD).
Meanwhile, the trading value in the Euro/ roupe pair reached a total of 49.9 billion rubles (832 million USD). The yuan/ryup pair surpassed the ruble/ Euro pair on July 29.
Russian investors are increasingly interested in the yuan and other Asian currencies, as Western countries impose unprecedented sanctions in response to Russia's military campaign in Ukraine.
In early August, the Moscow Stock Exchange began trading Chinese yuan bonds to attract more Asian investors. The first offering is issued by Russian aluminum manufacturer rusal.
Russia has asked unfriendly countries to pay for Russian gas in rubles, further consolidating the Russian currency. On August 18, the Russian ruble rose to its highest level in more than two weeks against the USD and Euro. Meanwhile, Russian stocks have risen higher thanks to rising crude oil prices along with the upcoming tax calculation period.
Russia is also pushing countries in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to pay in national currencies instead of USD and Euro. Russia has proposed that SCO countries join Russia's SPFS payment system - a system equivalent to SWIFT. Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said Moscow wants to boost payments in national currencies.
To ensure uninterrupted cooperation between banks, we welcome members of the SCO to join Russias financial messaging system, Reshetnikov said online at the SCO forum in Uzbekistan on August 16.
Minister Reshetnikov noted that SCO countries need to continue to promote the complete compatible of national payment systems and promote bilateral payments in national currencies.
We have seen positive results, such as quarter of trade between Russia and China being measured in rubles and yuan, Reshetnikov said.
The SCO includes eight member states: China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. SCO partners and associates include Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, Mongolia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka.
The SCO's work focuses mainly on security issues, but also solves regional development tasks.
Russia has been actively boosting its SPFS financial system since being cut off from SWIFT due to Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine. Both systems facilitate financial transactions between banks, but Russia's SPFS has only been used in Russia so far, while SWIFT is an internationally accepted payment system.
