Stocks in China suffered their biggest fall in seven weeks, while Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney and most of Southeast Asia also declined. Indian markets, however, enjoyed a small rise.

The system has already been used by Russia following the imposition of sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine war

Xi wants China and Russia to transact more deals in rubles and yuan to insulate the two against future Western sanctions

The system is ready to be tested after exporters had an importers have opened new bank accounts to enable rupee trade.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hosted two Arab summits with the Chinese leader, but any move by Saudi Arabia to ditch the dollar in its oil trade would be a seismic political move

Emerging market currencies have outperformed their developed market counterparts this year and analysts say signs point to a broader turn in dollar sentiment

China's currency rose to its strongest level in two months – to below 7 per dollar – on Monday, on expectations the US Fed will cut its interest rate hikes, while Beijing eases its zero-Covid policy

Yuan-rouble trading totalled 185 billion yuan in October, more than 80 times the level seen in February before Moscow invaded Ukraine

Health officials were due to hold a news conference on Tuesday to discuss Covid curbs, spurring hope that restrictions may be eased

The Chinese yuan fell to a more than two-week low on Monday as protests in China against Beijing's zero-Covid policies caused investors to back the US dollar.

Central bank approves the opening of nine 'Vostro accounts' with local and Russian banks to facilitate trade in rupees, a top Commerce official said

The yuan jumped in Asian afternoon trade after China ordered health authorities to ease some of Covid rules and US inflation data suggested that Fed rate hikes could start to slow