China, Japan renew Chiang Mai swaps plan

BEIJING, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- China and Japan have renewed a currency trading agreement designed to prevent another financial crisis in Asia.

The swap agreement makes hard currency swaps available to better contend with major trading moves by currency speculators, China’s Xinhua news agency said Saturday.

The agreement signed this week is part of the 2002 Chiang Mai Initiative, a landmark agreement that Xinhua said firmed up the regional financial markets and spurred economic growth.

The Chiang Mai Initiative establish a series of bilateral agreements on large-scale temporary currency swaps among major banks designed to stabilize currencies in danger of being undermined on the world trading market.