The first batch of 31.97 billion yuan of the total 200 billion yuan in special treasury bonds targeting the general public will be launched on Tuesday, China's Ministry of Finance said.

The ministry announced last Monday that it will issue 200 billion yuan (US$26.7 billion) in special treasury bonds as the second part of a planned 1.55-trillion-yuan fund to finance the country's new foreign exchange investment firm.

The first batch of the bonds, with a term of 15 years and an annual yield of 4.68 percent, will be launched between September 18 and September 21, and tradable from September 27 via the national inter-bank bond market and stock markets, said the ministry in a statement on Monday.

The ministry said interest will be paid every half-year and the bonds will finally be repaid on September 18, 2022.

The ministry said that private investors can trade the bonds at the secondary market through the trial commercial banks - branches of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China and China Construction Bank.

According to the ministry, the special treasury bonds will be issued in two groups, with the first 100 billion yuan to be issued this month in three batches, while the sale of the remaining 100 billion yuan is scheduled for the fourth quarter.

Two more batches will be issued on September 21 and September 28.

In June, China's top legislature approved the issuance of 1.55 trillion yuan of special treasury bonds by the Ministry of Finance to buy US$200 billion forex reserve for a state investment firm to make better use of the country's huge foreign exchange reserves.

At the end of August, the ministry issued 600 billion yuan of special treasury bonds targeting the country's commercial banks with an annual interest rate of 4.3 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2007)