Turkey, China conclude first lira-yuan swap deal

ANKARA - The central banks of Turkey and China have concluded their first Turkish lira-renminbi swap deal worth 450 million Turkish liras ($132 million), state-run Anadolu Agency reported Thursday.

The deal, which enables the use of local currencies in bilateral trade and investment, aims to enhance financial cooperation and promote bilateral trade.

According to Turkish Central Bank, the deal was carried out on Nov 30.

ICBC Turkey, the first Chinese bank that started operations in Turkey in 2015, became the first bank to use the currencies swap agreement that was inked between the two countries.

Turkey and China signed a 10 billion yuan ($1.59 billion) currency swap agreement in February 2012 and it was extended by three years in 2015.

The report said that the swap deal will promote trade and help in maintaining financial stability in both countries.

To promote the international use of the yuan, China has signed currency swap agreements with more than 30 countries and regions, boosting the yuan as a global reserve currency.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said Sunday his country was planning to trade with China, Russia and Iran in local rather than foreign currencies in order to strengthen the position of the Turkish lira and reduce dependency on the dollar.

Currently, China is one of the largest trade partners of Turkey with a bilateral trade volume of $28 billion as of last year.