The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) and the People’s Bank of China have signed an agreement to renew the currency swap between the UAE and China.

Furthermore, they inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance technical and technological cooperation in the development of central bank digital currencies. The signings will enhance the strategic partnership between the two friendly nations and expand the bilateral relations in the financial and economic fields.

The renewal of the currency swap agreement between the two countries, which has a nominal value of 18 billion dirhams (equivalent to 35 billion Chinese yuan), for the next five years aims to promote financial and trade cooperation between the UAE and China by facilitating the provision of liquidity in local currency to financial markets for the settlement of cross-border financial and trade transactions more effectively and efficiently.

The MoU aims to enhance collaboration with central bank digital currency development and strengthen cooperation between CBUAE and the Digital Currency Institute of the People’s Bank of China in the field of financial technology.

The MoU will enable the exchange of information on best practices and regulations relating to digital currencies and support the implementation of joint initiatives and projects, including the “mBridge” project which is a multi-central bank digital currencies platform in facilitating cross-border trade payments instantly and securely.

According to the statement, the MoU also includes cooperation in training and skills development for specialists on both sides and the exchange of bilateral visits to discuss matters of common interest.