BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Overseas investors held more Chinese yuan-denominated bonds at the end of last month, as the country opens up its bond market wider to the world.
At the end of September, the total amount of yuan bonds owned by overseas institutions under the depository of the China Central Depository & Clearing Co. (CCDC) rose 19.09 percent year on year to 1.79 trillion yuan (about 253 billion U.S. dollars), the CCDC said on its website.
The amount was also up 19.08 percent from the end of last year and represented a net increase of 70.67 billion yuan from August, the 10th straight month of net increases, the data showed.
The strong growth in overseas holdings of yuan bonds was in part boosted by the Bond Connect program, a market access scheme launched in July 2017 that allows overseas investors to invest in the Chinese mainland's interbank bond market using financial institutions of the mainland and Hong Kong.
The country's yuan-denominated bonds were added to the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Index starting April 1 this year, as the world's third-largest bond market further opens up. J.P. Morgan announced last month it has decided to include liquid Chinese government bonds into its flagship indices.
