MOSCOW, July 1. /TASS/. Russia and China need to minimize the use of SWIFT in mutual settlements to increase the security of interbank transactions, Yulia Kapranova, executive director of the Russian-Chinese Committee for Friendship, Peace and Development, said at the round table "Financial transactions between Russia and China: current status and prospects."

"To increase the security and privacy of interbank transactions between Russia and China, it is necessary to minimize the use of SWIFT by switching to the Chinese CIPS system (China International Payments System - TASS) and the Russian SPFS (the Financial Messaging System of the Bank of Russia - TASS)," she said.

As Kapranova noted, there is currently no IT gateway connecting these two systems, which requires the use of SWIFT or custom banking software.

"Nevertheless, China is actively internationalizing its CIPS system, inviting leading American and European banks as shareholders. This, on the one hand, makes it outwardly international, on the other hand, the system remains a critical infrastructure of China," the expert added.

Kapranova also stressed that the accession of Chinese banks to the SPFS is a promising option. According to her, this "will ensure the transmission of financial messages exclusively through the Russian system, completely excluding the access of foreign observers and minimizing the risk of sanctions from Western structures."