Yuan clearing centre to open in Moscow this week

BEIJING - Russia is to open a yuan clearing centre in Moscow this week, while the Russian Ministry of Finance plans to launch US$1 billion worth of yuan bonds, according to Russia’s central bank. The bond issuance will take place “ideally in one or two months,” Dmitry Skobelkin, Vice President of Russia’s central bank told guests at an opening ceremony for the central bank’s first overseas liaison office, which is located in Beijing.

The Beijing liaison office will help protect Russian financial institutions’ rights in China, and at the same time, enhance the attractiveness of the Russian financial market to Chinese financial institutions, Skobelkin told Caixin.

Yi Gang, Vice President of the People’s Bank of China, touted the moves as a sign that Sino-Russian ties and financial co-operation had reached a new level. “China and Russia’s trade volume in 2016 reached US$59.5 billion. I’m glad that the two countries’ financial co-operation has also reached a new stage,” Yi said at the ceremony.

China and Russia signed a series of documents in 2016 on the expansion of financial co-operation, including memorandums of understanding on anti-money laundering and fundraising for terrorism, establishment of a yuan clearing centre, and agreements concerning the Russian State bank’s payment system and China’s UnionPay system.  www.webershandwick.cn (ATI).