..China's central bank announced Tuesday that it had signed a 10 billion yuan ($1.59 billion) currency swap deal with Turkey, in its latest effort to promote international use of the Chinese currency.
The swap deal was signed with Turkey's central bank and will last for three years, the People's Bank of China said in a statement, adding the agreement could be extended beyond the initial period by mutual consent.
The PBOC has signed a series of similar swap agreements with various countries as part of an effort to promote international use of the Chinese currency.
China has in recent years signed agreements with New Zealand, South Korea, Malaysia, Belarus, Indonesia, Argentina, Iceland, Singapore and the southern Chinese territory of Hong Kong, which has its own currency.
Analysts say China is stepping up efforts to increase overseas use of the yuan partly to reduce the country's exposure to the US dollar and allow its currency to take on a greater global role.
China's key trading partners such as the United States say the yuan is undervalued, making Chinese exports cheaper on world markets and thereby gaining an unfair trade advantage.
