(Yicai Global) May 21 -- The yuan lost 2 percent against the dollar in April, making it a safer asset than other emerging market currencies as the greenback surged 5 percent throughout the month.

China saw an influx of foreign capital into its bond market as the Russian rouble slipped 8.5 percent against the dollar, the Brazilian real fell 6.1 percent, the Australian dollar lost 4.3 percent and the rupee dipped 3.2 percent.

Chinese government bonds do not have a very attractive yield given the absolute interest rate spread between the China and United States government bonds, said Ju Xiaojin, head of the offshore trading center at Bank of China Ltd. It was the yuan's stability that made it a safe bet, he added.

The proportion of foreign capital in Chinese government bonds rose to 6.29 percent last month, up 1.3 percentage points year to date, according to data for April. Foreign capital on the bond market hit a new high of almost 2 percent.

Trading volume has increased since the introduction of the Bond Connect program, which links mainland and offshore markets. Daily trading averaged CNY3.1 billion (USD488 million) last month, two and a half times more than three months earlier.

In the first quarter, more than two thirds of transactions via the Bond Connect were purchases, and those made up a third of total buys in the period, data shows.

Editor: James Boynton