Russia, China to Sign Deal on Mutual Access to Debt Markets on Dec. 17

Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said that Russia and China will sign a bilateral memorandum on cooperation of two finance ministries.

BEIJING (Sputnik) — Representatives of both Russian and Chinese finance ministries are expected to sign on December 17 a memorandum on mutual access to the debt markets of the two states, Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said Wednesday.

Russian delegation, headed by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, is visiting China between December 14 and 17, where a number of intergovernmental agreements are expected to be signed.

"Tomorrow we are signing a bilateral memorandum on cooperation of two [finance] ministries. The main point, I think, [is] the sides' obligations to work on creation of conditions for mutual access of the concerned parties to the debt markets of Russia and China," Storchak told RIA Novosti.

He added that the memorandum would also address the issues of cooperation between the treasuries of the two states.

China is Russia's leading economic partner. In 2014, bilateral trade between the countries amounted to $95 billion. Currently, the two countries are actively cooperating in many fields, most notably in finance, energy, infrastructure and defense.