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Exim Bank is to sell the 3-year bonds only to institutional investors, an investment banking source said, adding that the bank would decide on the yield later.

A regulatory source confirmed the details of the sale.

China published rules on Friday governing mainland financial institutions' issuance of yuan bonds in Hong Kong, fleshing out a nod it gave in principle in January.

Banking sources told Reuters in April that five Chinese banks were each planning to issue about 2 billion yuan of bonds in Hong Kong and that the first might happen in early summer.

The banks are EximBank, China Development Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd, Bank of China and Construction Bank of China, the sources said.

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