China, Australia expand currency swap agreement

BEIJING, Aug. 19 -- The People's Bank of China (PBOC) and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) have renewed their bilateral local-currency swap agreement for another five years and raised its maximum size to 220 billion yuan or 46 billion Australian dollars, the PBOC said on Wednesday.

Under the renewed arrangement, the ceiling has been raised from 200 billion yuan or 41 billion Australian dollars. The agreement can be extended by mutual consent, according to the PBOC.

The PBOC said the renewal and expansion would help deepen monetary and financial cooperation between the two countries, facilitate bilateral trade and investment, and support financial market stability.

Either central bank can activate the arrangement, under which the PBOC and RBA can exchange local currencies up to the agreed limits, according to the RBA.

First established in 2012, the swap arrangement has been renewed regularly, including in July 2021, when it was extended for another five years.

Such swap agreements allow central banks to support trade settlement in local currencies, particularly during periods of market stress, the RBA has said.

Economic ties between China and Australia remain substantial. Bilateral goods trade reached 131.5 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of 2026, up 36.9 percent year on year, according to China's General Administration of Customs. China's imports from Australia rose 45 percent to 89.6 billion U.S. dollars over the period.

The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement has been in force since December 2015. In July 2025, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding to activate the pact's built-in review mechanism.