China's finance ministry debuts offshore RMB bond

China’s finance ministry sold its first offshore renminbi bond Thursday in London, a move by Beijing to boost the international profile of its currency further. The Wall Street Journal reports the 3 billion yuan ($500 million) of yuan-denominated debt maturing in June 2019 will pay an interest rate of 3.28%, according to a deal notice released Thursday by banks handling the sale, and will be listed on the London Stock Exchange. Investors placed 8.5 billion yuan of orders for the bonds, according to a person familiar with the deal, with 58% of the securities going to investors from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the remainder heading to Asian accounts.