China Development Bank (CDB), one of the country's three policy lenders, said on Oct 11 it had successfully launched 2 billion yuan (US$300 million) of floating-rate renminbi bonds, which made it the first financial institution to issue floating-rate renminbi bonds in Hong Kong this year.

The htree-year-term bonds, offered to institutional investors, carried a coupon rate of 10 basis points over the 5-day average of three-month Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate and is payable quarterly, the bank said in a statement.

It was the fourth time that China Development Bank issued renminbi-denominated bonds in Hong Kong since July 2007, when China's central bank permitted mainland-based financial institutions to issue renminbi bonds in Hong Kong.

(Xinhua News Agency October 12, 2010)