OREANDA-NEWS. May 26, 2014. During the XVIII St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Sberbank of Russia and Bank of China (ELUOSI), which is a fully-owned subsidiary of Bank of China Ltd., signed a memorandum of understanding.

The agreement was signed by Member of the Board and Senior Vice President of Sberbank of Russia, and Acting Head of Sberbank CIB Alexander Bazarov and President and Chairman of the Board of Bank of China (ELUOSI) Chzhao Lyantsze.

The Memorandum provides for cooperation between Bank of China (ELUOSI) and Sberbank including Sberbank CIB – Serbank Group’s corporate and investment banking business, particularly concerning the strengthening of cooperation on trade finance and settlements in national currencies of the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China, as well as correspondent relations.

Member of the Board, Senior Vice President of Sberbank of Russia, and Acting Head of Sberbank CIB Alexander Bazarov said: “Sberbank and Bank of China have been working together in different areas of business for more than 10 years and we are pleased to expand our cooperation. This is an important step for the further development of Sberbank Group’s international activities. For example, Sberbank and its clients will benefit from eased access to Chinese financial markets and payments in national currencies. In addition, Sberbank will diversify its funding base by using the yuan as an alternative currency.”

President and Chairman of the Board of Bank of China (ELUOSI) Chzhao Lyantsze said: “Cooperation with Sberbank – the largest universal bank in the CIS – is an important step for us. We see significant potential for the development of trade relations between Russia and China and today our task is to provide clients with the most convenient format for working in our countries. I am sure that with excellent knowledge of the local markets and years of experience we can offer the highest standards of financial services to meet client requests.”