S Korea, China agree to extend currency swap deal
South Korea and China have agreed to extend their bilateral currency swap agreement, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Thursday, in a move aimed at helping ease a potential liquidity crunch amid the new coronavirus outbreak.
In 2017, the BOK and People's Bank of China extended the wonyuan currency swap deal worth 64 trillion won (US$55.3 billion) for three years, and the arrangement was set to expire Saturday.
The two Asian nations inked the currency swap deal in April 2009 in the midst of the global financial crisis and have extended it three times so far.
"The two sides have agreed to extend the swap facility at the working level and will announce details as soon as they wrap up necessary procedures," the BOK said.
A currency swap is a tool meant to defend against financial turmoil by allowing a country beset by a liquidity crunch to borrow money from others with its own currency.
In 2017, the two countries extended the agreement three days after the expiry amid a diplomatic feud over the installment of an advanced U.S. antimissile system, called THAAD, in South Korea.
In July, South Korea and the United States agreed to extend a $60 billion bilateral currency swap agreement by six months in a bid to ease market uncertainties amid the COVID19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, The online retail market has provided strong support for China to promote consumption growth and domestic circulation as economic activity is hampered by the coronavirus epidemic, according to the latest statistical report on China's internet development.
The report released by the China Internet Network Information Center noted that China's online retail sales in the first half of 2020 had risen by 7.3 percent year on year to exceed 5.15 trillion yuan (about 758.5 billion U.S. dollars), citing National Bureau of Statistics figures.
During the same period, online retail sales of physical commodities accounted for as much as 25.2 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods.
Online shopping has thrived and has boosted consumption, thus helping enhance the resilience of the economy, the report said.
While various online sales events effectively unlock consumption potential, new industry and business models like online shopping for agricultural products provide solid support for the transformation of traditional industries and the circulation of agricultural products, it added.
China's online consumer population hit 749 million in June 2020, up 5.5 percent from March and accounting for 79.7 percent of the country's total internet user population, according to the report.