OREANDA-NEWS.  April 04, 2013. Sberbank of Russia and Agricultural Bank of China have signed a Memorandum of Understanding. Herman Gref, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Sberbank and Zhang Yun, President of Agricultural Bank of China signed the document.

Under the Memorandum the parties have agreed to further develop cooperation on a wide range of business directions, including trade financing, Ruble and Yuan settlement transactions, as well as execution of large-scale common projects.

Herman Gref commented: “Russia and China are the key countries in the BRICS group: the annual sales volume between the two countries progresses towards \\$100 billion and maintains a positive trend. Development of the cooperation with the leading Chinese banks, including Agricultural Bank of China, is one of the strategic directions of Sberbank’s international activity. The partnership with Agricultural Bank of China will provide Sberbank and its clients with access to the financial markets of China, will diversify its sources of funding, will expand settlement business of trade service, and support the representative office of Sberbank in Beijing”.

Agricultural Bank of China is one of the four largest state-owned commercial banks of China.