HONG KONG, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Five-year RMB treasury bond futures debuted at the Hong Kong bourse on Monday, marking the first RMB treasury bond futures contract traded in the offshore market.

The product is expected to complement Bond Connect and Swap Connect by providing international investors with an effective offshore hedging tool to meet their growing need for managing government bond-related risks.

"Today's launch is far more than a new product -- it closes a critical gap in our offshore RMB toolkit. We are building a more complete offshore renminbi ecosystem, one in which investment, pricing, and risk management reinforce one another," said Paul Chan, financial secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.

This is an important step in supporting the long-term development of the offshore RMB bond market and the broader process of the internationalization of RMB, Chan said.

Global investors now hold 3.2 trillion yuan (about 474 billion U.S. dollars) of onshore Chinese bonds, according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission. ■