China's central bank on Friday authorized the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to clear renminbi business in Argentina.
The Argentine unit of the ICBC, China's largest lender by assets, will be the country's yuan clearing bank, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement.
The PBOC made the decision after Chinese and Argentine central banks signed a memorandum of understanding on establishing a yuan clearing system.
It will facilitate the use of yuan in cross-border transactions between the two nations and boost bilateral trade and investment, the PBOC said.
China is Argentina's second-biggest trade partner, its biggest destination of farm produce exports and its third-biggest source of investment. The two countries inked a 70-billion-yuan (11 billion U.S. dollars) currency swap deal in July 2014.
The ICBC has now been authorized for yuan clearing business in six foreign countries.
