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China plans third offshore yuan bond issue: report

BEIJING : China plans to raise 10 billion yuan ($1.54 billion) in its third sovereign bond issue in Hong Kong as part of
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The finance ministry has not yet finalised the size of the yuan-denominated bond issue, Dow Jones Newswires said, citing an unnamed person familiar with the situation.

The ministry did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment.

Beijing's previous sovereign bond issues in September 2009 and November 2010 raised six billion yuan and eight billion yuan, respectively.

Yuan-related financial products have been booming in Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous Chinese territory, which has been acting as a test bed for Beijing's ambitious goal to turn the unit into a global currency.

In 2009, China approved using the yuan to settle cross-border trade with Hong Kong and last year it relaxed rules to allow non-financial foreign firms to issue yuan-denominated bonds.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011