The share of the yuan/ruble currency pair trading on the Russian exchange market hit a new high of 39 percent in March, Bank of Russia, the country's central bank, said on Monday.

Meanwhile, the share of the US dollar/ruble pair fell to 34 percent, the lowest in recent years, the bank said in a report.

In a signal to the yuan's rising position in Russia, NBD-Bank, a Russian bank for small and medium-sized businesses, has joined the Cross-border Interbank Payment System — or CIPS, which specializes in renminbi cross-border payment clearing, according to media reports.

Joining CIPS can reduce the processing time for renminbi payments in China, which helps to speed up settlements and improve the quality of the bank's services for customers engaged in economic activity with China, Russian news agency Sputnik reported, citing a report of Russian newspaper Kommersant.