Companies People's Bank of China FollowBEIJING, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The People's Bank of China and the Saudi Central Bank recently signed a local currency swap agreement worth 50 billion yuan ($6.93 billion) or 26 billion Saudi riyals, both banks said on Monday, as bilateral relations continued to gather momentum. Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, and China, the world's biggest energy consumer, have worked to take relations beyond hydrocarbon ties in recent years, expanding collaboration into areas such as security and technology. The swap agreement, which will be valid for three years and can be extended by mutual agreement, "will help strengthen financial cooperation... expand the use of local currencies... and promote trade and investment," between Riyadh and Beijing, the statement from China's central bank said. Chinese President Xi Jinping told Gulf Arab leaders last December that China would work to buy oil and gas in yuan, but it has not yet used the currency for Saudi oil purchases, traders have said. Beijing is thought to have the world's largest network of currency swap arrangements in place, with at least 40 countries, but seldom reveals the broader terms of its arrangements.

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Persons: Xi Jinping, Weitseng Chen, Muyu Xu, Jacqueline Wong, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: People's Bank of, People's Bank of China, Saudi Central Bank, Saudi, National University of Singapore, Thomson Locations: People's Bank of China, BEIJING, Saudi Arabia, China, Riyadh, Beijing, Saudi, Russia, U.S, Argentina, Singapore