Australia to secure currency conversion deal with China

Government green lights deal that should cut the costs of doing business with China.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has received approval from her party and the opposition to secure a currency conversion deal with China. Under the deal, the Australian dollar would be directly converted into Chinese renminbi to avoid the cost of currency conversion.

"This is something which Australian business I think including the banking sector has been pushing for some time," said Arthur Sinodinos, Leader of the Opposition,.
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He noted that the United States and some other countries have already gone down this route.

Gillard might sign the deal in Shanghai soon after attending the Boao Forum for Asia in early April.