Australia is expected to push for a stronger market for Aussie-yuan transactions during Treasurer Wayne Swan's visit to China and Hong Kong next week, reports said Thursday.

Internationalisation of the yuan is clearly in the interests of Australian businesses and the broader Australian economy, reports said citing a statement by Swan. "This is why we've been taking action to promote and deepen the market in yuan-Australian dollar transactions."

Exports to China, Australia's single-largest market, increased sharply in May, according the trade statistics released by the Australian Bureau on Thursday.

In March, the Reserve Bank of Australia signed a A$30-billion currency swap agreement with the People's Bank of China to support trade and investment between the two countries, particularly in local-currency terms.

The agreement follows a decision by the Chinese authorities in November 2011 to allow convertibility between Aussie dollars and yuan in the interbank market in China.

Earlier this month, a local Chinese news paper reported that Australia is in talks with Beijing and Hong Kong to set up an offshore yuan market in Sydney.

RTTNews