CHINA'S Ministry of Finance yesterday announced it would float a batch of three-year book-entry treasury bonds today, with a total par value of 28 billion yuan (US$4.1 billion).

The bonds will have a fixed interest rate of 2.33 percent, to be paid annually every June 3 until 2013, said a statement on the ministry Website.

The bonds, the 16th batch of their kind launched this year, would be sold over five days till Monday, and would become tradeable from Wednesday, the statement said.

Book-entry bonds are bonds recorded in the investors' securities accounts, which can be traded on the open market, and their market prices can deviate from par value.