UK, China in talks on currency swap

The central banks of China and the UK agreed to a currency swap in the near future in an effort to boost trade and investment between the countries and help the UK better establish itself as a center for offshore renminbi trading, Financial Times reported. The countries negotiated the pound-renminbi swap, the amount of which was undisclosed, during a meeting between Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, and People’s Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan in China on Friday. London is already the second-largest offshore renminbi trading center after Hong Kong and the global center for currency trading.