UK to issue yuan bond

UK's finance ministry said it had appointed Bank of China, HSBC and Standard Chartered to help organize the first sale of British government debt denominated in China's yuan.

Britain is hoping to be the first Western government to issue an offshore yuan bond as it deepens its financial links with the world's second-largest economy.

The finance ministry said on Thursday the bond would be a stand-alone issuance and of benchmark size. It would be issued in "due course," the ministry said.

The proceeds of the bond will be used to finance the nation's reserves. Currently, Britain only holds reserves in US dollars, euros, yen and Canadian dollars, so a yuan sovereign bond signals yuan's potential as a future reserve currency.