China's central bank said on Wednesday that it has renewed a bilateral currency swap facility with Hong Kong and expanded the size to 500 billion yuan ($76 billion) from 400 billion yuan.

The agreement was signed by the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). And the renewal would be for a period of five years, according to a statement posted on the PBOC website.

The PBOC said the renewal would help maintain financial stability, facilitate trade and investment, and promote the development of Hong Kong's offshore yuan market.