Russia is ready to help Chinese companies replace Western ones that have left Russia as a result of sanctions imposed on Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during their meeting in the Kremlin on Tuesday, Reuters reported. , EFE and Agerpres.

Vladimir PutinPhoto: KAY NIETFELD / AFP / Profimedia

“We are ready to support Chinese companies to replace the production of Western companies that have left Russia,” Putin said at the start of his meeting with Xi Jinping.

The Russian president also noted the growth of Russian-Chinese trade, which reached $185 billion last year, but especially the increased use of the Chinese yuan and Russian ruble instead of the US dollar in those exchanges.

“It is important that national currencies are increasingly used in bilateral trade. It is necessary to further stimulate this practice and expand the mutual presence of financial and banking structures in the markets of our countries,” Putin said.

He specified that two-thirds of commercial transactions between Russia and China are now carried out in rubles or yuan, and asked to extend this practice to other markets. “We advocate the use of the Chinese yuan in operations between Russia and the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America,” the Russian president assured, who expressed confidence that the use of “these forms of payments will grow among Russian partners and their colleagues from third countries.”

Putin confirmed that he also discussed with his Chinese colleague the project of the future gas pipeline called “Power of Siberia 2”, through which Russia will be able to supply China with about 50 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

For his part, Xi Jinping expressed his willingness to work together with Putin on a plan to develop bilateral relations between the countries and strengthen coordination between Moscow and Beijing.

“Mutual trust is strengthening between our countries, common interests are multiplying, peoples are coming closer, trade and economic cooperation is developing in the investment, energy, cultural and interregional spheres,” the Chinese leader said.

“I am ready with you to prepare a plan for the development of bilateral relations and practical cooperation for the prosperity and revival of China and Russia,” Xi Jinping concluded in a short speech on the second day of his state visit. in Moscow…

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