(Yicai Global) July 3 -- The scale of Chinese yuan bonds held by foreign institutions has grown by nearly 40 percent yearly since 2017. Foreign institutions held about CNY2.6 trillion (USD368 billion) worth of yuan bonds as of the end of last month, or 2.4 percent of China's total, the People's Bank of China announced today.

Organizations abroad held about 9 percent of China’s Treasuries.

The balance of China's debt market was CNY108 trillion, ranking it the second-largest in the world after the US. Nearly 900 overseas legal entities spanning more than 60 countries and regions around the world had entered the inter-bank bond market by the end of last month, the PBOC added.

The central bank, together with other agencies, will continue to strengthen the basic system of the financial market, expand the bond market, hone risk hedging tools and supporting systems such as ratings and taxation, do more to ease international investors’ market entry to fulfill their demand for redback assets and further open the market, while advancing its high-quality development, per the statement.

Editor: Ben Armour