Russia supports yuan's globalization: VTB Bank

Russia supports China's efforts to promote the international use of yuan and make it a global reserve currency, said Andrei Kostin, head of Russia's second-largest lender, VTB Bank.

In an interview with Xinhua, Kostin said the world financial system is still dominated by the U.S. dollar and is in need of a more diversified mechanism to reduce reliance on a single currency.

China, as the world's second-largest economy, could cooperate with several countries to build a new system, Kostin said, adding Russia would support China to play a leading role in the financial landscape.

Kostin said that, as far as barriers for settlements in local currencies are concerned, regulators should further ease restrictions to create a more amicable environment for using the ruble and yuan.

"The Chinese currency has a better outlook than the ruble. I am confident that the yuan will assume a more significant role in the world economy in the near future," he said.

Kostin is in Beijing to attend the 2014 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit. In addition to signing a series of cooperation agreements with Chinese banks, VTB bank has inked a 300-million-U.S.-dollar deal with Chinese telecom giant Huawei for equipment purchases.