Chinese, Canadian central banks agree to ¥200bn currency swap

The central banks of China and Canada have agreed to a currency swap worth 200 billion yuan ($32.67 billion) or C$30 billion, according to a Canadian government statement issued at a meeting of Asia Pacific nations on Saturday, Reuters reported.
The swap will be effective for three years, according to a separate statement from China's central bank. The agreement was announced after Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, will also create a clearing hub for the yuan - or renminbi, as the currency is also called - in Toronto, the first such hub in the Americas.
The central bank said on Sunday that it would appoint the Canadian branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) , China's largest commercial bank, as the hub's clearing bank.
The currency swap will help set up the clearing bank, and allow the two banks to swap currencies if needed to ease trade and investment. The yuan clearing bank would allow Canadian financial institutions to use the clearing bank to process payments for their customers in yuan.