Russia announced plans Thursday, May 21, to issue another round of government bonds denominated in Chinese yuan, days after President Vladimir Putin returned from a two-day state visit to China aimed at strengthening ties with Beijing amid global tensions over the wars in Ukraine and Iran.
According to Russia’s Finance Ministry, quoted by Bloomberg, investors will be offered fixed-coupon bonds with a 10-year maturity and a face value of 10,000 yuan ($1,380) per note. Orders will be collected on May 28, while placement on the Moscow Exchange is scheduled for June 3.
The ministry said investors would be able to purchase the bonds and receive coupon payments in either Chinese yuan or Russian rubles.
The planned issuance follows Putin’s meetings in Beijing with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, where both sides sought to demonstrate the strength of Russia-China relations despite mounting Western pressure and ongoing geopolitical conflicts.
Russia first entered the yuan-denominated sovereign bond market late last year, raising 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) across two separate tranches. According to Bloomberg, the Russian government has increasingly relied on yuan financing to help cover budget deficits fueled by wartime spending and weaker oil revenues.
At the time of the first issuance, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said the ministry hoped to create a benchmark yield curve in yuan “to help corporate borrowers tap yuan funding.”
The previous 12 billion yuan ($1.8 billion) bond tranche maturing in February 2029 carries a 6% coupon, while another 8 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) tranche due in 2033 pays 7%, Bloomberg reported.
Xi Jinping has described China-Russia relations as a force of “calm amid chaos” during talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Wednesday, May 20, as global tensions continue to rise following conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
The meeting took place in the Great Hall of the People, marking the start of Putin’s roughly 24-hour state visit to China.
It comes just days after Xi hosted US President Donald Trump for a high-profile summit, underscoring Beijing’s increasingly central diplomatic role between global rivals.
Beijing and Moscow are also marking the 25th anniversary of their 2001 Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation, which resolved long-standing border disputes and laid the groundwork for expanded strategic cooperation.
For China, hosting both Trump and Putin within days highlights its ambition to position itself as a global diplomatic powerbroker, capable of engaging rival blocs while maintaining ties with both Washington and Moscow.