Russia's top banks have started lending out yuan and transferring China's currency outside the SWIFT system

Western sanctions have kept Moscow out of global networks, but Russia's top banks have deepened their relationship with China.

As it looks to replace dollar and euro transactions, Sberbank is starting to lend out money in the Chinese currency.

German Gref, CEO of Sberbank, said at Russia's Eastern Economic Forum that he did not think Russia would return to the situation of the dollar's influence on the domestic economy.

It is the first Russian bank to launch money transfers to China through the Chinese currency, the renminbi.

The monthly limit for single-transaction transfers is $100 million.

The bank will lend in a number of non-Western currencies later this year.

The use of the dollar and the euro in international payments is being rejected by the new reality. The launch of the yuan transfer system will increase the popularity of the Chinese currency in our country.

Russia has a network called the System for Transfer of Financial Messages but there is still a need for an alternative.

Russia's ability to bank globally has been targeted by the Western sanctions due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Since the February invasion, Russia has begun to use the Chinese currency as an alternative payment method. Russia is now the third biggest market for yuan transactions outside of China.