China-Russia cooperation not affected by ruble depreciation: spokesman

The currency-swap arrangement and energy cooperation between China and Russia are not affected by the depreciation of ruble, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Thursday.

Qin told a regular press conference the currency-swap agreement signed by the two countries takes into consideration the fluctuation in exchange rates.

It is in line with international practice and therefore free of any impact from the ruble's depreciation, he said.

"The economies of China and Russia share a great deal of complementary traits with each other, with great potential for bilateral cooperation," Qin said. Both the government and business from the two countries have shown a strong will toward expanding trade and investment cooperation.

He said the leaders of the two countries have reached consensus to expand and deepen practical cooperation in the areas of energy, high-speed railway, infrastructure and the development of the Far East region.

"We are fully confident about the prospect of trade and economic cooperation between China and Russia," Qin said.

In response to a question on whether China will provide support to Russia through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Qin said China is considering financing a number of priority projects with the Eurasian economic cooperation fund for the SCO members, which includes China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

He said China will actively consider using the 40-billion-U.S. dollar New Silk Road Fund to finance cooperative projects with SCO members.

China is also coordinating with other SCO members to steadily foster the SCO development bank, which is designed as a long-term stable financing platform for regional cooperation.

At the 13th SCO prime ministers' meeting held in Astana of Kazakhstan on Tuesday, the six countries vowed to make collective efforts to strengthen the competitive edge of their economies, maintain economic stability, enhance investment environment and expand industrial output.

"We believe that Russia has the capability to overcome the current, temporal difficulties," Qin said, noting that the slowdown of world economy has put pressure on the economic growth of SCO members.

He said China has noticed the fluctuation in the exchange rates of ruble as well as the measures that Russia has taken to stabilize the value of the currency.