The relevance of the presented article is due to the need to find a way to resolve the problems that arise in Russian foreign trade in the face of sanctions pressure from unfriendly states. The field of cross-border interbank settlements is one of the factors supporting the relationship between Russian and foreign counterparties, and due to the disconnection of Russian banks from SWIFT, there was a need to find and use new payment mechanisms in settlements with foreign partners. It is emphasized that building mutually beneficial cooperation with China helps reduce dependence on the US dollar, but at the same time, Russia risks becoming directly dependent on the Chinese yuan