China welcomes foreign investors in bond market: central bank

BEIJING - China welcomes investment from global central banks, financial institutions and sovereign-wealth funds in the country's bond market, an unnamed official from the central bank said on Tuesday.

The remarks came after the People's Bank of China issued new rules to make it easier for international investors in the interbank bond market on July 14, which was estimated at around 35.3 trillion yuan ($5.7 trillion) by the end of May.

After the new rule, foreign central banks, global financial institutions and sovereign-wealth funds will only need to register with the central bank to trade bonds in the spot and forward markets, conduct interest rate swaps, and trade forward rate agreements.

They will also be free to decide on the size of their investment.

The central bank official said the move is aimed at speeding up the construction of a more transparent and open bond market to better play its role in resource allocation.