Beijing: The Industrial Bank Co., Ltd., a Chinese joint-stock commercial bank, announced its successful issuance of its first batch of sci-tech innovation bonds on the inter-bank market. The funds raised will support lending toward scientific and technological innovations and related businesses.

According to Qatar News Agency, the issuance amounted to 10 billion yuan ($1.39 billion) with a maturity period of three years and an interest rate of 1.66%. The issuance attracted a high level of interest, with an oversubscription rate of 2.9 times.

The bank's move follows recent announcements by China's regulatory bodies of supportive measures to boost sci-tech innovation bond issuance. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission unveiled initiatives last week aimed at diversifying the range of sci-tech bond products and enhancing supporting mechanisms.

Preliminary figures from the PBOC indicate that nearly 100 market entities are preparing to issue more than 300 billion yuan's worth of sci-tech innovation bonds, with further participation expected in the future.