British finance minister says Beijing agrees to make London hub for handling China’s yuan

BEIJING — Britain’s finance minister George Osborne says Beijing has agreed to make London an offshore center for handling investments in China’s tightly controlled currency, the yuan.

Osborne said Tuesday during a visit to Beijing that China’s state-owned banks also will be allowed to expand their activities in Britain.

Osborne said investors in London will be allowed to apply for licenses to invest yuan directly into China. He said the Chinese central bank has set an initial quota for London of 80 billion yuan ($12.7 billion).

Beijing is gradually expanding the yuan’s use outside China as trade and investment grow. Yuan are traded in Hong Kong and other financial centers are looking at applying for authorization to handle the currency.