-- Russian Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Pankin told Xinhua on Wednesday the Chinese yuan was becoming a strong regional currency.

Pankin said at the Russian Forum 2010 the increasing use of the yuan in international trade settlement "is a natural course."

Russia was closely watching the use of the yuan in Chinese Hong Kong, he added, as well as its future prospects.

The deputy minister did not exclude the possibility that Russia and China would use their domestic currencies in settling bilateral energy deals.

Pankin also hoped the ruble could further consolidate its status as the settlement currency in the Commonwealth of Independent States and eastern Europe.