Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ said Monday it plans to issue yuan-denominated bonds in China early next year after becoming the first foreign commercial bank to obtain government approval.
The Japanese bank, which was given the green light by China's banking regulator on Thursday, will issue one billion yuan (146.4 million dollars) in bonds on the interbank bond market through its Chinese unit, a Tokyo-based spokesman told AFP.
"We will begin procedures early next year for the issuance," he said, adding the issuance date had not been decided.
"The maturity will be some two years. We will use the funds for lending to corporations regardless of whether they are Japanese or not," he said, adding that demand for loans was robust in China.
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ is a unit of Japan's biggest bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
China said earlier this year it would allow foreign firms to issue yuan-denominated bonds and would eventually allow them to sell shares in the nation's main bourse in Shanghai.
The moves are part of a broader plan to build the city into a global financial hub by 2020.
Previously only international institutions such as the Asian Development Bank have sold yuan bonds in China.
HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered said in June they were preparing yuan-denominated bond issues in China to help the country develop its local-currency financial markets.
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