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The de-dollarization between Russia and China has ceased to be a distant threat to the global financial system and has become a concrete reality in trade between the two powers. Amidst the advancement of the strategic alliance between Moscow and Beijing, Russian authorities have confirmed that more than 99% of bilateral payments are already made in rubles and yuans, drastically reducing the space for the dollar and the euro in transactions between the two countries.
The statement reinforces a change that had been building since the beginning of Western sanctions against Moscow, but now appears on another level. Vladimir Putin himself stated that practically all export and import operations between Russia and China use national currencies, consolidating a financial model increasingly less dependent on traditional channels controlled by the West.
The dollar loses ground in the Moscow-Beijing axis
For decades, the American dollar functioned as the main currency of international trade, even in transactions between countries that did not directly involve the United States. However, the economic war waged after the sanctions against Russia accelerated a process that Moscow had been advocating for years: the creation of alternatives to the financial system dominated by Washington.
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According to Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, 99.1% of commercial payments between Russia and China are already conducted in national currencies. In practice, this means that bilateral trade has come to operate almost entirely with Russian ruble and Chinese yuan, leaving the dollar in a practically residual position.
This transformation is not just symbolic. It shows that two of the largest rival powers of the United States have managed to build their own financial circuit to maintain trade, investments, and strategic contracts even under pressure from sanctions, banking restrictions, and attempts at economic isolation.
Putin speaks of trade protected against external pressures
Vladimir Putin classified the advancement of payments in national currencies as one of the pillars of economic cooperation with China. For the Kremlin, the replacement of the dollar and the euro with rubles and yuans created a trade structure more protected against external shocks, financial blockades, and volatility caused by political decisions of Western countries.
The message is clear: Moscow and Beijing want to show that they can expand their cooperation without relying on traditional financial infrastructure, especially mechanisms linked to the dollar, the euro, and the Western banking system. This is the most sensitive point of the dispute because the American currency has always been one of the main tools of global influence for the United States.
By stating that virtually all import and export operations between the two countries are already conducted in national currencies, Putin turned dedollarization into a political fact of great impact. It is no longer just an economic trend but a public demonstration of strength amid the reshaping of global alliances.
Western sanctions accelerated the change
The movement gained momentum after Russian banks were hit by sanctions and restrictions on access to international financial systems. The exclusion of Russian institutions from traditional payment channels showed Moscow the risk of relying on infrastructure controlled by geopolitical adversaries.
The response was to accelerate agreements with partner countries, mainly China, to expand the use of local currencies in international trade. The result is now evident: trade between Russia and China has practically abandoned the dollar in their commercial settlements.
This process also interests Beijing. China has been seeking for years to expand the international use of the yuan, reduce the vulnerability of its companies to financial sanctions, and strengthen its position as an economic power alternative to the bloc led by the United States.
Trade between Russia and China remains at a gigantic level
Even with recent fluctuations, bilateral trade between the two countries continues at an impressive level. In 2024, exchanges between Russia and China reached about US$ 244.8 billion, a historic record. In 2025, there was a decline, but the volume still remained close to US$ 228 billion, keeping the partnership at a much higher level than observed before the war in Ukraine.
Russia mainly sells oil, natural gas, coal, copper, wood, fuels, and seafood to China. Meanwhile, China supplies the Russian market with automobiles, machinery, tractors, computers, smartphones, industrial equipment, clothing, and footwear.
This exchange reveals an increasingly clear mutual dependence. Moscow found in Beijing a crucial buyer for its natural resources, while China gained ground in a Russian market that lost access to many Western products after the sanctions.
A symbolic blow against the financial hegemony of the USA
The replacement of the dollar in Russia-China trade does not mean the immediate end of the American currency in the world, but it represents a powerful symbolic blow against its hegemony. When two economies of this size start to settle almost all bilateral trade outside the dollar, the signal sent to the rest of the world is clear.
Other countries are watching this move closely, especially those that fear sanctions, financial blockades, or excessive dependence on the Western banking system. For governments seeking greater autonomy, the Russia-China model may serve as an example of an alternative route.
Still, there are challenges. Chinese banks have already faced pressure due to the risk of secondary sanctions from the United States, and some transactions with Russian companies have experienced delays or higher costs. Even so, strategic sectors such as energy, food, and raw materials continued to operate with relative stability.
Dedollarization has ceased to be a promise and has become present
The big news is not just in the number of 99.1% of payments in rubles and yuan, but in what it represents. Russia and China are no longer just discussing reducing the dollar in diplomatic statements. They are already operating, in practice, a practically dedollarized bilateral trade.
This advancement marks a new phase in the relationship between Moscow and Beijing. The alliance between the two countries has moved from the military and diplomatic field to directly reach the heart of global economic power: the control of currencies, payments, and financial routes.
For the West, the warning is clear. The Russia-China dedollarization shows that sanctions can isolate a country from part of the traditional financial system, but they can also accelerate the creation of parallel mechanisms. And when this process involves two nuclear powers, major exporters, and with enormous geopolitical weight, the impact is no longer regional.
The dollar remains the main currency of the planet, but in trade between Russia and China, it has already lost its prominence. And this change, now confirmed by Moscow, shows that the dispute for the new world economic order is no longer in the future. It has already begun.
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