The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) today signed an agreement with the People's Bank of China (PBoC) that enables the Bank to invest in China’s interbank bond market.The Chinese bond market is the world’s fifth largest bond market and it continues to grow rapidly in both depth and liquidity. South Africa’s trading patterns have seen significant changes such that today China is our largest trading partner and the foreign exchange reserves diversification strategy of the SARB responds to this change in South Africa’s trade relations. The agreement enables the SARB to invest approximately US$1,5bn or CNY9,3 billion, which is roughly 3 per cent of South Africa’s official gold and foreign exchange reserves of US50 billion.This agreement will deepen the relationship between the SARB and the PBoC as part of the cooperation between China and South Africa on a bilateral basis as well as within the BRICS context.For further information contact:Hlengani MathebulaHead: Group Strategy and Communications +27 12 313 4210+27 82 448 9219