BEIJING, December 20. /TASS/. Russia and China are exploring the possibility of placing bonds of Chinese companies in yuan on the Moscow Exchange, Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov said on Wednesday.

"We had serious discussions with our Chinese partners about the conditions and opportunities for our companies to issue yuan-denominated bonds in the Chinese market - the so-called panda bonds. We had our first experience at the beginning of the year, in February, when our company Rusal placed panda bonds on the Shanghai Stock Exchange for a total of 10 bln yuan - around $1.5 bln," he said.

"But there is, as they say, a mirror mechanism, namely placement of bonds denominated in national currencies on the Moscow Exchange. This project is also under discussion and, as we hope, it will supplement the arsenal of our financial instruments, as large-scale investment, trade and economic cooperation in general is hardly possible without it," he added.

Earlier, Russia and China agreed on the issue of federal loan bonds (OFZ) in yuan. Russian Deputy Finance Minister Vladimir Kolychev said in mid-December that Chinese investors were satisfied with Russia's credit rating, and the Russian Ministry of Finance expected that this would not be a one-time issue of OFZ, but a permanent instrument.

OFZ in yuan might be placed before the end of 2017 or in early 2018.