BEIJING - China's central bank has signed a memorandum of understanding on setting up yuan clearing arrangements in Brazil, it said on Tuesday, in a move to help boost the currency's global clout.

The establishment of such arrangements for the renminbi (RMB), or the yuan, would be beneficial to cross-border transactions, and further promote bilateral trade and investment facilitation, the People's Bank of China said on Tuesday.

China has in recent months signed similar yuan clearing deals with Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Laos.

Two-way trade between China and Brazil reached $172 billion in 2022, according to data from Chinese customs.

China has been trying to boost the yuan globally since 2009 to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar in trade and investment settlements and challenge the greenback's role as the world's major reserve currency.

(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom, Liangping Gao and Kevin Yao, Editing by Louise Heavens, Kirsten Donovan)