ZURICH--The Swiss National Bank and the People's Bank of China reached a currency swap agreement on Monday, allowing the two central banks to buy and sell their currencies up to a limit of 150 billion renminbi, or 21 billion Swiss francs ($23.4 billion).
The deal will also allow the Swiss central bank to invest some of its huge accumulation of foreign exchange reserves in the Chinese bond market, the SNB said in a statement Monday.
The Zurich-based SNB said the agreement will further strengthen collaboration between it and its Chinese counterpart and is a "key requisite for the development of a renminbi market in Switzerland." It could also facilitate trade and investment between the two countries, the PBOC said.
Switzerland is the latest of a series of countries to set up swap lines with China, which is keen to promote the international use of the yuan.
Last year China signed swap agreements with the European Central Bank and a clutch of others, including the U.K., Brazil and Indonesia.
The agreement between China and Switzerland has a term of three years and can be renewed thereafter, the PBOC said.
Write to Neil MacLucas at neil.maclucas@wsj.com and Richard Silk at richard.silk@dowjones.com
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