The French central bank on Sunday said it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with its Chinese counterpart to set up a yuan payment system in Paris.

"This MOU is the first step toward the creation of a yuan clearing and settlement infrastructure in Paris," the French central bank said in a statement.

Competition is fierce among Europe's major financial centers to trade in China's currency. Frankfurt and Luxembourg are vying with London, the favorite of many analysts, and Switzerland is trying to muscle its way into the competition.

The payment system agreed between France and China will function on the basis of a clearing bank that will be designated by the People's Bank of China (PBC), the French central bank said.

China stepped up plans to increase the international use of its currency last October with an agreement between the European Central Bank and the PBC to swap euros and yuan.