According to sources familiar with the matter, as U.S. President Donald Trump initiates a trade war, the Chinese government is in talks with Japan and South Korea on a potential trilateral currency swap agreement to strengthen the region’s financial security and deepen economic cooperation.
The source stated that Pan Gongsheng, the governor of the People’s Bank of China, discussed the matter with the heads of the South Korean and Japanese central banks separately at the IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Washington last week. The relevant negotiations are said to have been underway for some time.
Currency swaps are a common tool used between central banks to provide local currency liquidity. Beyond rescue actions by multilateral institutions, it can also offer financial assistance during debt crises.
The discussions on a trilateral currency swap come as China has long been promoting the internationalization of the yuan to counter the U.S. dollar and to foster a free trade agreement among the three East Asian countries. The combined economies of these three countries account for a quarter of the global total.
South Korea and Japan are both close allies of the United States but have also been hit by high tariffs from Washington. Based on 2024 trade figures, they are China’s fourth and sixth-largest trading partners, respectively.