Mainland to issue more sovereign bonds in HK

BEIJING - The Ministry of Finance will issue 12 billion yuan ($1.95 billion) in yuan-denominated sovereign bonds in Hong Kong sometime before the end of 2014, it said on Monday.

The issuance will be the eighth of its kind. Since 2009, the ministry has issued yuan treasury bonds seven times in Hong Kong, a total value of 96 billion yuan.

It issued 6 billion yuan in treasury bonds in the region in September 2009. That was the first time that China's national debt has been sold outside of the Chinese mainland.

The ministry has kept trying different methods of issuance in the last six years, and put an emphasis on the benchmark role of the yuan treasury bonds in Hong Kong's renminbi bond market.

The issuance of yuan treasury bonds has enhanced financial cooperation between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, and strengthened Hong Kong's position as an international financial center, according to the ministry.

For issuance in the future, it said it will properly set issuance the scale in accordance with the need of Hong Kong's offshore renminbi market, and continue innovating in the issuance mechanism.

Hong Kong's renminbi bond market was born in July 2007 when the China Development Bank issued 5 billion yuan worth of yuan-denominated bonds there.

Its offshore renminbi business was officially launched in February of 2004 to facilitate cross-border tourist spending.

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