BEIJING - China CITIC Bank said Tuesday that it has been approved as one of China's market makers in yuan-yen direct trading.

The approval came after other banks, including the Bank of China, Mizuho Corporate Bank (China) Ltd, HSBC Bank (China) Co Ltd and the Bank of Communications also announced previously that they were approved as market makers.

The market makers will quote both the purchase and sale prices of the yuan against the Japanese currency on the interbank foreign exchange market.

The direct trading of the yuan against the yen, which was launched last Friday, marked the first time for China to allow a major currency other than the US dollar to be traded directly against the Chinese currency.

Since last Friday, the central parity rate of the yuan against the yen has been based on the average price of offers made by market makers before the opening of the market each business day.

As part of China's efforts to promote Sino-Japanese financial cooperation, the move is also viewed as a further step toward the yuan becoming a global currency.

Data showed that bilateral trade between China and Japan reached 2.19 trillion yuan ($344.07 billion) in value last year. However, most of the trade was settled in US dollars.

Analysts have predicted that the two sides will save up to $3 billion in transaction costs after they implement direct trading between the two currencies.