Aerial photo taken on June 17, 2022 shows the headquarter building of the New Development Bank (NDB) in east China's Shanghai. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

The Shanghai-based New Development Bank (NDB) has become one of the largest issuers of panda bonds on the China Interbank Bond Market, the bank said on Friday.

Panda bonds are yuan-denominated debts sold by overseas issuers in China. According to data from the bank, the NDB has issued bonds totaling 16 billion U.S. dollars, approximately 35 percent of which are denominated in renminbi (RMB).

In the first half of this year alone, the bank issued 8.5 billion yuan (about 1.18 billion U.S. dollars) of RMB bonds, noted Zhou Qiangwu, vice president and chief administrative officer of the NDB.

"As the first global multilateral financial institution initiated wholly by developing countries, the NDB is mandated to mobilize resources for the sustainable development of emerging markets and developing countries," Zhou said.

In the past eight years since its inception, the NDB has been operating stably, expanding its membership prudently and progressing steadily in both fundraising and investment, he added.

Headquartered in Shanghai, the NDB was established by the BRICS nations, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The bank formally opened in July 2015.