The world should not be “dominated” by one single currency  – that was Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's message to the world when he visited China recently.

Dmitry Medvedev is the head of the Russian government, overseeing economic development, among other things.  He said that the world should not be dominated by one currency and told reporters that Russia is working on its own national payment system, known as Mir card (Karta Mir in Russia). 

Russia created the Mir card system after EU and US sanctions were imposed on Russia in 2014 over the crisis in Ukraine. The system is designed to cut dependence on Western payment systems such as Visa and Mastercard.  Around 14 million Mir cards, which translates from Russian as "peace" or "world", have been issued in Russia and they are widely accepted in more than 380 banks operating in the country.  They are welcome in sanctions-hit Crimea where Western banks are banned from operating. 

“I think that the more financial instruments there are in the modern world, the more stable the global financial system will be,” Medvedev said. “The world needs a balanced system of financial relations, based on the use of different reserve currencies for different transactions. There should not be dominance by any single currency.”

Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia and China are considering linking their national payment systems.

Russia and China already have plans for numerous financial cooperation projects. This includes a new method for interbank transfer and a joint credit agency, allowing them to function without depending on Western-dominated financial institutions. 

Since the EU and the US imposed sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine, Moscow has been looking increasingly towards China. The two countries enjoy what they call an "unprecedented" level of economic, trade and political ties.