BEIJING - The National Bank of Canada issued 3.5 billion yuan ($517.8 million) worth of 'panda bonds' in China on Wednesday, the first issuance of such bonds by a foreign financial firm, Xinhua learned from an underwriter on Thursday.

The three-year yuan-denominated bonds, issued on China's interbank bond market, were priced to yield 3.05 percent annually, said the Bank of China (BOC), which was a lead underwriter of the bonds.

Panda bonds are yuan-denominated debts sold by foreign issuers in China. Analysts expect the market to expand as China pushes internationalization of its currency.

Early this year, the Canadian province of British Columbia issued 3 billion yuan worth of panda bonds in China.

The BOC said it has so far helped 15 overseas issuers sell panda bonds on China's interbank market since 2015.

The panda bond market is expected to surpass 320 billion yuan in the 2016-2020 period, according to the World Bank's International Finance Corporation.