WELLINGTON, New Zealand—China on Wednesday allowed its currency to be directly traded with the New Zealand dollar in another step toward allowing greater international use of the yuan.



New Zealand allows open trading of its currency. China has strict capital controls which allow it to control the value of the yuan, an important economic and political tool in a developing country where tens of millions of jobs are tied to exporting.

China's government is gradually expanding opportunities for the yuan to be used outside its borders for trade and investment. It has previously allowed only five currencies to be directly traded with the yuan: the U.S. dollar, the Japanese yen, the Australian dollar, the Russian ruble and the Malaysian ringgit.

