Pedestrians walk past a branch of ICBC (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China) in Chongqing municipality, Dec 14, 2013. [Photo/IC]

BEIJING - China's central bank on Tuesday appointed the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to clear transactions involving the country's currency renminbi, or yuan, in Qatar's capital Doha.

According to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on yuan clearing in Doha, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) decided to authorize the Doha branch of ICBC to clear yuan transactions in Doha, the PBOC said in a statement on its website.

The PBOC and Qatar Central Bank signed the MoU on yuan clearing in Doha on Monday.

China agreed to extend the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors program to Qatar, with an initial quota of 30 billion yuan.