The trade of Chinese yuan on Russia's foreign exchange market has grown to a record high as the share of euros and dollars have dropped, Bloomberg reported on April 8, citing data from Russia's central bank.
The data was another illustration of the increasing importance of the yuan in Russia's economy amid the growing de-coupling from Western financial systems.
The trade turnover of yuan in March was 53% of the total foreign currency exchanges, compared to just 3% in March 2022.
Russia has sought to reduce the usage of dollars and euros in its economy, referring to the currencies as "toxic."
Russian Central Bank head Elvira Nabiullina said that the "share of the dollar and the euro has practically halved" over the past year.
At the same time, Western sanctions have also impacted Russia's ability to make payments in yuan.
The Russian state-controlled media outlet Izvestia reported in March that several Chinese banks had stopped accepting payments from Russia in yuan, fearing ramifications of U.S. sanctions.
China has fostered close ties with Russia during its full-scale war against Ukraine, tightening economic cooperation and disrupting Western attempts at isolating Russia.
Martin Fornusek
