Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, shakes hands with an Indonesia central bank official after signing the currency swap deal in Beijing, March 23, 2009. [pbc.gov.cn]

China and Indonesia inked a deal on a three-year currency swap worth 100 billion yuan on Monday, the People's Bank of China, or the central bank, said.

The deal, which could be extended upon agreement of the two sides, aims to promote bilateral trade and direct investment between the two countries, and provide short-term liquidity to stabilize the financial market, the bank said on its website.

China has signed such currency swap deals with South Korea, Malaysia and Belarus and the Chinese mainland also reached such a deal with Hong Kong earlier. Those deals are worth 480 billion yuan in total.

(China Daily March 23, 2009)