Aerial photo taken on June 27, 2017, shows the scenery on both sides of the Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, southern China. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai)

China's central bank on Tuesday issued 10 billion yuan ($1.41 billion) of bills in Hong Kong with a coupon of 2.21 percent.

The issuance was widely welcomed by overseas investors, with banks, central banks and funds among other institutional investors from the US, Europe and Asia, and international financial organizations actively participating in the subscription, the People's Bank of China (PBC), China's central bank, announced in a statement on its website. 

The auction attracted bids of over 34 billion yuan, meaning the deal was oversubscribed 3.4 times. That indicates the strong allure of yuan-denominated assets for overseas investors, read the central bank announcement, and global investors remain confident in China's economy.

The oversubscription of yuan bills, together with thriving secondary listing activity, is testament to Hong Kong's role as a global financial hub. 

The bills, maturing in six months, were the sixth batch issued by the PBC this year. 

A regular mechanism for the issuance of central bank yuan bills in Hong Kong has been gradually put in place since November 2018. Tuesday's issuance was supposed to roll over, according to the announcement, yet the outstanding central bank yuan bills in the city still hit 80 billion yuan following the issuance. 

The stable and continuous issuance of PBC yuan bills in Hong Kong is propitious to enriching high-credit-rating yuan asset portfolios and yuan liquidity management tools in the local market, thereby meeting the needs of offshore investors, improving the offshore yuan yield curve, pushing forward the offshore yuan market and advancing the yuan's global push. 

Additionally, EY on Tuesday pointed to an accelerating trend of secondary listings in Hong Kong that offset falling IPO activity by deal numbers amid the COVID-19 outbreak. 

The Hong Kong bourse saw an increase in proceeds fueled by the secondary listings of US-listed Chinese firms, with telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) leading IPO activities in both deals and proceeds, EY said in a statement sent to the Global Times. 

Eight of the top 10 IPOs in the city are healthcare and TMT firms in the new economy sector. 

It is estimated that 59 firms were listed on the Hong Kong market in the first half of the year, down 20 percent year-on-year due to the pandemic, while the amount of money raised totaled HK$87 billion yuan ($11.23 billion), up 21 percent year-on-year. 

The secondary listings of mainland internet majors JD.com and NetEase raised a total of HK$54.3 billion, accounting for 62 percent of the total proceeds in the first half, the statement revealed, and nearly 60 percent of IPOs came from mainland firms.