Popov, deputy chairman of the board of directors of Sberbank, the largest bank in the Russian Federation, said in an interview with Izvestia that since the beginning of the year, the RMB loan portfolio issued by Sberbank has reached 90 billion yuan, an increase of 9 times.
Popov pointed out that the yuan has become the most popular foreign currency for loan disbursement. At the same time, the share of the euro and the dollar continued to decline.
Popov said: “The demand for RMB ranks first. Since the beginning of the year, the RMB loan portfolio issued by Sberbank has reached 90 billion yuan, an increase of 9 times.”
Popov said demand for yuan loans is very high. But at present, Russian people are not inclined to save RMB.
Popov pointed out that because China is Russia’s largest trading partner, opening a branch in China is one of the priorities of Sberbank.
According to statistics released by the General Administration of Customs of China on September 7, from January to August 2023, the trade volume between China and Russia increased by 32% year-on-year, reaching US$155.101 billion. Among them, China’s exports to Russia were US$71.804 billion, an increase of 63.2%; China’s imports from Russia were US$83.297 billion, an increase of 13.3%.