The Agricultural Development Bank of China (ADBC) issued financial bonds worth 53 billion yuan ( about 6.4 billion US dollars) between January and April, nearly half of the total amount of 120 billion yuan (some 14.51 billion US dollars) projected for 2005.

Vice bank governor Liu Meisheng called this progress "faster than expected" at the bank's 2005 meeting for underwriters held here Friday. He attributed the achievement to the popularity of short-term bonds, whose value totals 45 billion yuan (5.44 billion US dollars).

ADBC, one of China's three policy banks, started to issue financial bonds through market means last year to diversify its financing sources. So far, approximately 85.8 billion yuan short- term bonds (or 10.37 billion US dollars) have been issued, about 91 percent of its total issue.

Apart from its term of less than one year, Liu said the ADBC financial bonds also stood out for having better liquidity and allowing more convenience to underwriters who guarantee the purchase of bonds before selling them to others.

For instance, liu said, ADBC didn't require bench mark sales for underwriters and thus allured the interests of small and medium-sized city banks and credit unions.

According to Liu, ADBC has planned to issue financial bonds of 200 billion yuan (about 24.18 billion US dollars) next year. By 2010, its annual issue of financial bonds will hit approximately 350 billion yuan (about 42.32 billion US dollars).

Source: Xinhua