RMB Clearing Bank was opened in Russia
On March 23, 2017 in St. Petersburg Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) announced the opening of RMB Clearance Center. Meanwhile, on March 22, the bank officially started to work in Moscow so, St. Petersburg took up the baton.
Russia became the seventh country, where ICBC put into operation the Clearance Center. The Bank already operates in Singapore, Luxembourg, Qatar, Canada, Thailand and in Argentina. Such a bank in our country enable the ICBC branch to provide services such as calculations, funding, foreign exchange transactions, decisions on hedging. Usage of Ren Min Bi in bilateral trade and investment will reduce risks for businessmen from both countries.
ICBC is the largest commercial Bank of China that operates in the territory of Russia as a subsidiary of the Commercial and Industrial Bank of China (ICBC). The Bank was created to provide a complete package of quality financial services for Chinese and Russian import and export enterprises, among them: to invest in projects and finance enterprises, also to carry out the currency exchange transactions and conversion operations, to assist in developing the trade and economic relations, to create investment and business cooperation of both countries. The Bank is the major market-maker on RMB and HKD in Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange and the only Chinese bank in Russia holding license to work with dealer, broker and depository activities. In September 2016 ICBC was empowered by the People’s Bank of China as a clearing bank on RMB transactions in Russia.
The entire diplomatic corps and the management of the structural subdivisions in Moscow and St. Petersburg attended the opening bank ceremony. On behalf of the Leningrad Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry the Head of the Foreign Economic Relations Department Arakelova Lilia visited the event, she stressed that the Clearing Bank is a new historical step to the fruitful Russian-Chinese finance cooperation. Russia and China strengthen cooperation on national currency exchange transactions. At the end of 2015 the Bank of Russia formally announced that Chinese yuan has included into the reserve currency basket, thus the yuan became the reserve currency, officially recognized in Russia.
LRCCI is actively helping Russian entrepreneurs, interested in the international market. China is one of the priorities for Russian business at the current stage. Trade and economic ties between the two countries are developing and strengthening, also new mutual projects have launched. Clearing Bank creates favorable conditions for cross-border use of the yuan in Russia. The Foreign Economic Relations Department of the LTPP will arrange a joint event enable Russian companies to know a new system better. Thus, all interested representatives of Russian business learn more about services and products of the bank.
