Interbank pairs trading begins

China began trading eight foreign currency pairs today at the China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS) in Shanghai. This is an important step towards developing China's forex market, providing China's smaller financial institutions with access to international financial markets, and meeting the growing needs for funding and risk hedging among Chinese businesses, analysts say. Previously, the market allowed only trading between the yuan and the US dollar, Japanese yen, euro and the Hong Kong dollar.