(Yicai) July 17 -- New Development Bank, the world's largest issuer of so-called panda bonds, will continue to enhance the issuance of the yuan-denominated notes sold by foreign institutions in the Chinese mainland to help China's opening-up of its capital market.

NDB plans to issue new panda bonds soon, Yicai learned during a recent seminar hosted by the global multilateral development bank. Since entering the Chinese interbank market in 2016, the lender has issued panda bonds worth CNY47.5 billion (USD6.5 billion), with an outstanding balance of CNY31.5 billion, it pointed out.

Panda bond issuers include international development agencies, government agencies, financial institutions, and non-financial companies. Such bonds worth CNY627.6 billion (USD86.3 billion) have been sold from 2013 to last year, NDB noted.

One of the characteristics of NDB is its large-scale local currency financing from the financial markets of member countries, Jin Zhongxia, director general of NDB's treasurer and capital management bureau, noted at the seminar. This expands financing channels, optimizes financing structures, and reduces exchange rate risks and costs when using financing funds for domestic projects, Jin added.

The proceeds from NDB's panda bonds are mainly used for domestic projects in China. The lender has approved the issuance of about CNY38.6 billion (USD5.3 billion) of such loans to 15 Chinese and one Brazilian projects as of the end of last month, according to its data.

NDB will continue to actively participate in the panda bond and related financial markets, aiming to provide benchmarks for international issuers and enhance the global status of China's financial market and Shanghai's financial hub, Jin pointed out.

NDB was established by BRICS intergovernmental organization members -- China, Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa -- in 2015 to finance infrastructure construction in these countries and other developing nations. It has greenlit loans worth USD35.2 billion as of the end of June.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Martin Kadiev