The central banks of China and Australia signed a 200-billion-yuan (31.74 billion U.S. dollars, or 30 billion Australian dollars) currency swap agreement on Thursday.

The agreement is for an initial three-year period and could be extended with the consent of both sides, said a statement released by the People's Bank of China, China's central bank.

The statement said the agreement aims to help strengthen financial cooperation between the two sides, boost bilateral trade and investment and promote regional financial stability.

Since the outbreak of the global financial crisis, China has signed currency swap agreements worth 1.5 trillion yuan with 17 countries and regions to support its trade and investment with these economies.