Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (601398.SHA) will become a clearing bank for RMB transactions in Canada, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a statement from China's central bank. The announcement comes one day after China and Canada reached a broad agreement on expanding the use of the yuan in the Canadian market, and makes state-run ICBC (China's largest bank in terms of assets) the first yuan-clearing bank in North America.

In the agreement reached on Saturday during a visit to Beijing by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the two countries agreed to set up a currency swap line worth the equivalent of US$32 billion.