BEIJING - China's bonds issued in 2011 totaled 7.8 trillion yuan ($1.24 trillion), down 20.4 percent from a year earlier, the country's central bank said Tuesday.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement posted on its website that the bond market experienced sound development last year and played an active role in implementing macro economic policy and optimizing resource allocation.

Treasury bonds and central bank notes issued last year declined, as the government made inflation control the priority of its economic regulation and strived to mop up excessive market liquidity.

The PBOC hiked banks' reserve requirement ratio (RRR) six times and the benchmark interest rate three times in 2011 before cutting the RRR in December.