The China Foreign Exchange Trade System transacted ten deals of the yuan against U.S. dollar options on Friday, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said on Saturday.

The notional principal amount of the ten deals reached 49 million U.S. dollars, the foreign exchange regulator said.

China launched yuan option trading on the national interbank foreign exchange market on Friday to provide companies with more hedging tools against exchange rate fluctuations.

Several major Chinese and foreign banks, such as Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Deutsche Bank, conducted Friday's transactions.

China's foreign exchange market developed quickly since the country started the renminbi exchange rate reform in 2005. The nation has launched many derivatives during the past five years, including forwards, foreign exchange swaps and currency swaps, to further diversify foreign exchange instruments and offer new hedging products to consumers.

The regulator said it would continue to promote the development of China's foreign exchange market, acting on its own initiative and in a controlled and gradual manner.