Poland becomes first European state to issue RMB bond

Poland has become the first European country to issue government debt in China's bond market, with a bond of 3 billion yuan ($452 million), a move which analysts said marks a significant milestone for the yuan's growing use internationally.

The three-year bond has a yield of 3.4 percent. Bank of China Co Ltd and HSBC Holdings Plc are joint bookrunners and joint lead underwriters. The bond issuance comes ahead of the yuan's imminent inclusion in the International Monetary Fund's basket of Special Drawing Rights currencies in October.

The IMF's SDR is an international reserve asset, in the form of a currency basket that the yuan will join in October to sit alongside the dollar, euro, sterling and yen. It is the major alternative currency to the dollar, which dominates international foreign exchange transactions.