China and Malaysia signed a deal to establish a Yuan-Ringgit clearing bank based in Kuala Lumpur.
The clearing bank will help reduce costs and facilitate business between the two countries as payments can be made directly in Yuan, without payments having to be converted into USD.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced the initiative on November 10 after meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang on the sidelines of the 22nd Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing.
The clearing bank will enable the two countries to increase bilateral trade to 160 billion USD by 2017, compared to 106 billion USD last year, he said.
It will act as a catalyst for growth in bilateral trade, investment and financial flows between Malaysia and China.-VNA
