China, Germany to build yuan centre in Frankfurt

BEIJING – China and Germany have agreed to launch an offshore yuan trading centre, with the Bundesbank and the People's Bank of China signing a Memorandum of Understanding to allow clearing and settlement of yuan trades in Frankfurt. The yuan trading centre, in Germany's financial capital, will be the first of its kind in the Eurozone, and forms part of a series of deals the two countries signed during a visit by President Xi Jinping.

Germany is China's biggest trade and technology partner in the European Union, with bilateral trade reaching USS161.6 billion in 2013, 580 times that of 1972 when the two countries established diplomatic relations. The agreement to launch the trading centre is another step in Chinese Government efforts to internationalise the yuan.