China said on Thursday that it had issued 1.8 trillion yuan (US$233.8 billion) of central bank notes in the first quarter, accounting for 85.7 percent of the total bonds issued in the same period.

The increase in central bank notes issued sent the RMB-denominated bonds issued at the inter-bank market up by 37.47 percent.

However, despite the country's efforts to tame liquidity, the country reported last Thursday a higher-than-expected growth rate of 11.1 percent for the first quarter.

Premier Wen Jiabao said later on the same day that China should curb the excessive supply of money and credit, strengthen supervision of cross-border flows of short-term capital and improve foreign currency management in addressing the issue of excess liquidity .

The country issued bonds worth 2.1 trillion yuan at the inter-bank market in the first three months, according to the People's Bank of China.

The rest included 86 billion yuan of book-entry treasury bonds issued by the Ministry of Finance, 117.1 billion yuan of financial bonds issued by the policy banks and commercial banks and another 62.1 billion yuan of short-term financing bonds issued by enterprises.

The inter-bank bond market, launched in the first half of 1997, is an important player in the Chinese bond market and in the financing of the government, financial institutions and enterprises, with nearly 6,000 various institutions operating on the market.

(Xinhua News Agency April 27, 2007)