BEIJING - China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Tuesday it will issue yuan-denominated treasury bonds worth 14 billion yuan ($2.06 billion) and 2 billion yuan of US dollar-denominated sovereign bonds overseas this year.

The 14 billion yuan of treasury bonds will be sold in Hong Kong in two equal rounds, one for the first half of the year and one for the latter half, the ministry said, without giving a specific timetable.

The 2 billion yuan in dollar-denominated sovereign bonds will be issued in the latter half of the year.

With steady steps, China has been pushing its currency to wider use on the global stage. The MOF started selling yuan-denominated treasury bonds in Hong Kong in September 2009 to boost the region's economy and speed up the expansion of offshore yuan business.

Last year, the IMF included the Chinese currency, the renminbi (RMB), into the SDR basket as a fifth currency. It is the first time for the IMF to include a currency from an emerging market economy in its elite reserve currency basket.