BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The central banks of China and New Zealand on Friday announced they would renew a reciprocal currency arrangement that would support the settlement of bilateral cross border transactions.

The size of the swap facility was 25 billion yuan (3.62 billion U.S. dollars), or five billion N.Z. dollars, and had a three-year maturity that could be extended if both parties agreed.

The swap line was first agreed by the People's Bank of China and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) in 2011 to promote bilateral trade and direct investment.

The currency swap deal allows the two institutions to exchange payments in one currency for equivalent amounts in the other, which will facilitate bilateral trade settlements and provide liquidity support to financial markets.