China will not change state regulation to buy Russian government bonds

The Chinese authorities refuse to change state regulation so that its companies could buy Russian government bonds issued in yuan, Timur Maksimov, Deputy Finance Minister said at the Moscow Financial Forum, Finmarket reports.

According to Maksimov, it makes sense to borrow assets in yuan only if they provide an influx of new money into the Russian economy. Under the current conditions, a loan can be possible only in so-called panda bonds that are sold on the Chinese domestic market. In order to withdraw them, one requires special permission from the regulator.

According to Maksimov, if Chinese investors buy Russian government bonds, it would mean that they would withdraw money from the national system. Beijing is not ready for this. Timur Maksimov believes that this issue could be resolved in the future, but the time frame, during which the Chinese authorities could change their position is unclear.

Russia hopes to start issuing government bonds in yuan over the last eight years. In 2016, Russia was planning to issue securities in the amount of about six billion yuan (52 billion rubles), but the issue was pushed back to 2017. In 2019, Sergei Storchak, then Deputy Minister of Finance, admitted the lack of progress in the negotiations.

After the beginning of the special operation in Ukraine and a sharp rise of tensions in relations with the West, Moscow tried to revisit this idea, although to no avail yet, Maksimov admitted.

Earlier, Russian Ambassador to China Andrei Denisov noted that China would not ruin relations with Western countries for the sake of stronger cooperation with Russia. China's turnover with the European Union and the United States is ten times the turnover with Russia in monetary terms.