“Russia and China are carrying out all the approved cooperation programs. Energy cooperation has acquired a strategic character. Important projects in the fields of industry, agriculture and transportation are being implemented,” Lavrov said at an international conference dedicated to Sino-Russian relations.
Lavrov also pondered the intention of both countries to increase the use of national currencies in their payments.
“At a time when the United States and the European Union have turned their currencies into an instrument of blackmail, we intend to develop an independent financial infrastructure and significantly increase the use of the ruble and the yuan in payments between our countries,” Lavrov said.
In this regard, he added that a quarter of the commercial exchange between Russia and China is already being carried out with the use of national currencies.
The Russian consul general in the border city of Harbin, Vladimir Oschepkov, stated in an interview with the Sputnik news agency that from January to April 2022, payments exceeded 840 million yuan (over 128 million US dollars), “370 percent more than in the first four months of last year.”
The General Administration of Customs of China confirmed in mid-May that the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia to China increased by 15 percent year-on-year between January and April.
As per the statement released by the TASS news agency, the Chinese entity specified that imports grew by 1.43 million tons more than in the same period of 2021.
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