Libya's central bank agrees to put its commercial banks on China's CIPS payment system

The Central Bank of Libya has agreed to connect Libyan banks to China's Cross-Border Interbank Payment System.

Governor Naji Mohammed Issa Belqasem was received by his counterpart at the People's Bank of China, Pan Gongsheng, in Beijing on July 16. The Libyan central bank said the two sides officially agreed to facilitate the participation of Libyan banks in the system, which is known as CIPS and settles yuan payments between member banks directly rather than through correspondent banks. The release says the arrangement is expected to streamline trade and financial transactions and improve the efficiency of cross-border payments between the two countries.

A second element concerns reserves rather than payments. Both sides reached an agreement on Libya entering the Chinese bond market, which the central bank tied explicitly to its strategy of diversifying its reserve investment portfolio and strengthening reserve management. The People's Bank governor welcomed the initiative, according to the same release.

The two governors also agreed to hold a Libyan-Chinese Banking Forum for the first time, on the sidelines of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in early 2027.

No Libyan bank is named in the release. No date is given for when any of them joins CIPS, and no figure is attached to the bond market allocation.