Russian media: RMB surpassed the US dollar for the first time, becoming the largest foreign currency in Russia

According to data from the Moscow Exchange, the Russian media "Kommersant" estimated that in February this year, the renminbi surpassed the U.S. dollar, which has long occupied the first place, to become Russia's largest foreign currency for monthly delivery on the next day.

The Kommersant provides the following data comparison:

In February, the RMB traded more than 1.48 trillion rubles on the next day, 1/3 higher than the January trading volume, while the US dollar trading volume only increased 8% from January to 1.42 trillion rubles. The renminbi accounted for nearly 40 per cent of the combined trading volume of major currencies on the Moscow exchange in February, well above the 0.32 per cent in February 2022, a year ago the dollar, which accounted for 87.6 per cent, accounted for just over 38 per cent, and the euro, which traded 0.79 trillion rubles, accounted for 21.2 per cent, compared with 11.9 per cent a year ago. In February, the in stock trading volume of RMB was 0.22 trillion rubles, ranking third, second only to the US dollar with trading volume of 0.74 trillion rubles and the euro with trading volume of 0.5 trillion rubles. In that month, the trading volume of RMB broke the monthly record of 0.19 trillion rubles set in December 2022, more than twice that of January.

"Kommersant" believes that the increase in the proportion of RMB transactions further reflects that in the context of the expansion of sanctions against Russia by the European Union and the United States, Russia has withdrawn from transactions in the currencies of Russia's "unfriendly" countries and regions.

Mikhail Vasiliev, chief analyst of the Bank of Russia Sovcombank, commented that about half of the Sino-Russian trade volume is settled in rubles and RMB. Some large Russian companies have completely converted trade with China into RMB transactions. In the next few months, it is expected to China. The share of RMB trade in trade will continue to increase.

Vasiliev also believe that the continued risk of Western sanctions on the Moscow Exchange and the Russian National Clearing House (NCC), as well as the de-dollarization policy pursued by Russian banks, have also led to a decline in demand for the currencies of "unfriendly" countries.

"Kommersant" quoted analysts as saying that in stock transactions are mainly buying and selling foreign currencies. It is part of import and export trade. The next day transactions are relatively more commonly used for speculation. Therefore, the increase in transaction volume in in stock trade reflects the real renminbi. Increased demand, such as import demand.

Previously released official data have shown that the trade volume between China and Russia has increased by leaps and bounds in the past year.

Statistics released by the General Administration of Customs of China on January 13 this year show that in 2022, the trade volume between China and Russia was 190.272 billion billion US dollars, an increase of 29.3 percent year-on-year. Among them, China's exports to Russia 76.123 billion US dollars, an increase of 12.8; China's imports from Russia 114.149 billion US dollars, an increase of 43.4.

Lu Daliang, spokesman for the General Administration of Customs, said at a press conference on the same day that China's imports and exports to Russia in 2022 totaled 1.28 trillion billion yuan, accounting for 3% of China's total foreign trade import and export value. In terms of scale, Sino-Russian trade maintained steady growth in 2022, and bilateral trade volume reached a new high.

In February this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Wang Yi, director of the office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, said that the annual trade volume between China and Russia would reach 200 billion billion US dollars. In an interview with domestic media that month, Russian ambassador to China Igor Morgulov specifically mentioned that this year, Russia-China trade is expected to exceed 200 billion US dollars.

Morgulov said at the time that about half of the bilateral trade volume between China and Russia last year was settled in RMB and ruble, which has doubled compared to the past. "In Russia, the demand for the Chinese national currency has increased significantly." Last year, the volume of RMB and ruble currency pairs on the Moscow exchange increased 100 times, surpassing the volume of ruble and dollar currency pairs.

Considering the unstable world economic situation, Morgulov said that it is difficult to make any calculations now, especially since many international experts predict that the world economy will decline. "But in general, we are confident that we will exceed the $200 billion target set at the top of both parties, and I think we will exceed it by a larger amount."