China is considering plans by global agencies including ADB and the International Finance Corp (IFC) to issue a total of 4 billion yuan ($480 million) worth of bonds, but has yet to give final approval, officials said on Friday. China's cabinet had given the green light to yuan-denominated bond issues by global agencies to help develop the domestic market, but such bond issues, unprecedented in the country, still needed some time for technical preparations, they said.

"Applications by Asian Development Bank, IFC, Japan Bank for International Co-operation and other institutions to issue 4.0 billion yuan in bonds are still being examined," said an official at the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

The official, who declined to be named, said it was still too early to decide the maturity and interest rates. An official at ADB's resident mission in Beijing said the bank had yet to receive final approval for its planned issue of one billion yuan worth of bonds in China. "As far as I know, there are still some technical issues that need to be resolved," the official said. The IFC, the World Bank's private sector arm, has said it aims to issue $100 million to $200 million in yuan bonds to help develop China's bond market.

Copyright Reuters, 2005