China cheers Russia’s move away from US dollar in favor of yuan

Beijing has welcomed Russia’s decision to cut the US currency from its National Wealth Fund and give the yuan a bigger role, China’s Foreign Ministry has announced.

Last week, Russia fully eliminated the US dollar from its National Wealth Fund, reducing its share from 35% to zero. Meanwhile, it raised the amount of Chinese yuan in the fund to 30.4%, which put it in second place after the euro with 39.7%.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Russia’s action shows confidence in China’s economic development and the future of the countries’ cooperation. He stressed that China would continue to boost cooperation with Russia, which he dubbed mutually beneficial, while supporting its ally in international and regional affairs.

China has firm belief in its currency, with high hopes of it becoming the world’s ‘currency of choice’ by 2050 under the country’s so-called dual circulation strategy. First mentioned at a meeting of China’s policy-making committee in mid-May, the initiative shifts the focus of the country’s economic development to its domestic market, or internal circulation, aiming to make China less reliant on the current export-oriented development strategy (external circulation).

China has also been stepping up efforts to globalize the yuan by launching a pilot digital yuan program, as well as setting up a joint venture with SWIFT, the network that enables financial institutions to exchange information about banking transactions.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section