SHANGHAI: China's Ministry of Finance auctioned 19 billion yuan ($2.76 billion) of 50-year bonds and 12 billion yuan of 3-month bills in the interbank market on Friday at an average yield of 3.48 percent and 2.1011 percent, respectively, traders said.

For 50-year bonds, the yield was below market forecasts, centered around 3.55 percent and ranged from 3.50 to 3.60 percent.

The auction yield came in below Thursday's benchmark secondary market yield of 3.5683 percent for 50-year government bonds.

For 3-month bills, the auction yield came in above Thursday's benchmark secondary market yield of 2.0720 percent for three-month government bonds.

Copyright Reuters, 2016