Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has announced Moscow and Beijing are to jointly establish a rating agency.

Siluanov explained the new body will first be used for assessing bilateral Russian-Chinese projects, but could later provide services to third countries.

"Many countries would like a higher impartiality in the assessments of rating agencies. In this respect, we have agreed on further cooperation. A Russian-Chinese rating agency will be created which will use the same tools [and] criteria to evaluate investment projects of countries and regions that are used by existing rating agencies," the Minister was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying.

A "number of Asian countries" could be attracted to the project which could ultimately offer them its services, he added.

In his words, the agency will be of "exclusively economic" essence and will be politically independent.

Russia has often criticized international rating agencies such as Fitch, Moody's and Standard&Poor's, which Moscow believes serve US interests around the world.

President Vladimir Putin has personally shed light on the Kremlin's ambitions to establish their "Russian" version.

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