Foreign minister says China willing to help Russia if necessary

China is willing to help Russia if necessitated by the latter’s currency issues, South China Morning Post reported, citing a statement from Foreign Minister Wang Yi to mainland-linked Phoenix Television over the weekend. The station did not quote Wang as mentioning any specific measures regarding the rouble, which has fallen about 45% against the dollar this year. Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng, also present as part of a visit by Premier Li Keqiang, said China and Russia had the capacity to achieve this year’s trade target of US$100 billion, and that cooperation on energy and manufacturing projects would not be greatly affected by the situation in Russia.