BEIJING—China’s central bank said Monday that it is allowing direct trading between the yuan and the Swiss franc, in a bid to boost bilateral trade and investment. The People’s Bank of China said in a statement that the two currencies can be traded directly on the China Foreign Exchange Trade System, the interbank-trading and foreign-exchange division of the central bank. Before it, traders have had to exchange the currencies through the U.S. dollar, which could add to transaction costs. ...
China continues its strategy of pushing for reserve-currency status at the IMF by boosting the yuan's global usage with direct trading with the Swiss franc, thereby bypassing conversion into the US dollar; the China Foreign Exchange Trading System confirmed the link will start on Tuesday. The yuan has been a major source of friction between Beijing and Washington since it was introduced in 1999.