Banco de Portugal and the Monetary Authority of Macao have discussed setting up an offshore market for bonds denominated in renminbi, the Portuguese central bank says.

A Banco de Portugal annual publication says representatives of the bank and visiting representatives of the monetary authority met to discuss the matter last year.

Last May Lusa reported that the Portuguese government sold 2 billion yuan (about US$282.4 million) worth of debt denominated in renminbi in its first offering of panda bonds.

The Portuguese news agency said Chinese state-owned Bank of China and British bank Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp Ltd (HSBC) were joint lead underwriter.

The Banco de Portugal publication says representatives of the central bank had three other meetings with visiting representatives of various Chinese institutions last year.

In one meeting, with representatives of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, supervision of the insurance and finance industries was discussed; in another, green financing was discussed; and in the third, sustainable financing was discussed, the Banco de Portugal publication says.