Shanghai’S free trade zone will be the test bed for yuan-denominated bond trading targeting overseas investors this month when the city government issues no more than 3 billion yuan (US$442 million) of municipal bonds.

The three-year bonds, to be used for debt swap, will target global investors and is the latest move by Shanghai to liberalize the finance sector in the FTZ since it was set up in September 2013, China Business News said, without giving a specific time frame for the launch of the bonds.

The bonds may help attract foreign investors and expand the cross-border use of yuan while also aiming to unify pricing.

By issuing the yuan bonds in the FTZ, the authorities hope to link the onshore and offshore bond markets to stabilize the yuan exchange rate and control the offshore yuan pricing. The aim is to help build an asset pricing, payment and settlement center as well as boost the yuan’s internationalization.

Source: Shanghai FTZ Government.cn