Shunned by the West since sending its troops to Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow is turning increasingly to Beijing, with President Vladimir Putin this week meeting President Xi Jinping in China.
As well as sharply raising its use of the yuan, Russia has increased energy supplies to China and started selling more Chinese-branded cars as Western automakers depart.
VTB's yuan deposits are up nearly 90% so far this year, with customers preferring short-term deposits of three to six months, the bank said.
"Customers with savings in dollars and euros are striving to convert to 'soft' currencies - first and foremost, the yuan," said VTB's Natalia Tuchkova, head of the savings department. "This instrument is attracting increasing interest from the population.
"For example, the Chinese currency at VTB already accounts for almost a third of the total volume of retail deposits in foreign currency."
VTB anticipates its dollar and euro deposits will shrink to almost zero by the end of 2025.
($1 = 7.3158 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Christina Fincher)
