The Chinese economic planning body has given ten Mainland banks the go-ahead to issue RMB bonds in Hong Kong.

The mandate, signed 11 January by the National Development and Reform Commission, is meant to boost the flow of the renminbi back into the country following a decline in issuances in the past year. Data from Thomson Reuters shows that debt issuances totalled around RMB23 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011, from over RMB50 billion in the June quarter. 

The latest move will result in a combined RMB25 billion ($3.96 billion) worth of RMB-denominated bonds in Hong Kong, the NDRC said on its web site. The ten banks include China Development Bank, Export-Import Bank of China, Agricultural Development Bank of China, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and the China units of Bank of East Asia, HSBC and Bank of Communications. 

The NDRC also said that efforts to funnel investment back into the Mainland do not affect the government's plan to expand the local currency's international profile.