Recently, the 2024 China Russia Economic and Trade Cooperation Fair was held in Shenyang, attracting over a hundred entrepreneurs, representatives of Chinese enterprises, and industry experts and scholars from Russia and relevant countries of the Eurasian Economic Union to gather in Shenyang, covering areas such as channel construction, import and export trade, cold chain warehousing, and financial services. At the negotiation site, the two countries jointly signed 55 projects with a total value of 13.6 billion yuan, further consolidating the relationship between the two countries.

According to reports, the Chinese yuan has replaced the US dollar and euro as the main foreign currency for Russia's overseas economic activities. 

Nabiurina said in an interview, "Until 2022, a significant portion of our foreign exchange reserves were in US dollars and euros, as previous foreign trade contracts were mainly settled in US dollars and euros."

"Now, our overseas economic activities are actively shifting towards using other currencies for settlement, mainly the Chinese yuan."

Nabiulina stated that the proportion of the Chinese yuan in Russian export settlement has increased from 0.4% two years ago to 34.5%, and its proportion in import transactions during the same period has also increased from 4.3% to 36.4%. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Belousov also stated in November 2023 that the proportion of bilateral trade settled in rubles and Chinese yuan has reached 95%.

It is reported that this change is related to Western countries imposing sanctions on Russia. After the escalation of the conflict between Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia was excluded from the SWIFT international settlement system and became increasingly dependent on RMB. China is also striving to enhance the global attractiveness of the renminbi, promoting it as an international settlement currency and reserve currency that can replace the US dollar.

In recent years, Shenyang has actively strengthened cooperation with Russia in areas such as trade and investment, focusing on building a commodity, logistics, and information hub for economic and trade cooperation with Russia. According to data from the Shenyang Municipal Bureau of Commerce, in 2023, a total of 122 Russian investment enterprises were approved to be established in Shenyang, with an import and export volume of 4.06 billion yuan to Russia, a year-on-year increase of 80.2%. Among them, exports reached 3.15 billion yuan, an increase of 51.9%; Imports reached 910 million yuan, an increase of 404.9%.

Expanding the membership of BRICS countries presents a new opportunity for the renminbi

When asked about the priorities and goals of the central banks of BRICS member countries this year, she added, "We will come up with a busy agenda."

2024 will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia. According to official data, China and Russia have exceeded and exceeded the trade targets set by the two heads of state in 2023, with a total annual trade volume exceeding 240 billion US dollars. China has maintained its position as Russia's largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years, and is also the preferred destination for Russia's imports of mechanical and electrical products, as well as exports of beef and seafood. The cooperation projects between China and Russia in key areas such as energy, aerospace, and technology are steadily advancing, and the trade settlement and logistics channels between the two sides are becoming increasingly convenient.

In recent years, Shenyang and Russia have achieved fruitful cooperation results in multiple fields, including establishing friendly city construction, promoting major project cooperation, strengthening investment and trade exchanges, and promoting scientific, educational, and cultural exchanges. Igor Kuimov, as a member of the Council of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and the President of the Moscow State Chamber of Commerce, fully affirmed the cooperation between Shenyang City and Russia. He eagerly looks forward to the upcoming China Russia (Shenyang) Economic and Trade Cooperation Fair and other events to be held in 2024, hoping to further explore new cooperation opportunities in Shenyang through these platforms, in order to promote closer relations between the two sides and achieve a mutually beneficial and win-win situation. Editor/Zhao E