BEIJING — Overseas investors have been increasing holdings of Chinese bonds as the country opens up its financial sector, official data showed.

Overseas institutional investors bought bonds worth 3.2 trillion yuan ($461.4 billion) in 2019 while sold bonds worth 2.1 trillion yuan, resulting in a net increase of 1.1 trillion yuan in holdings, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

As China opens its financial sector, its bond market has become an important part of global asset allocation, said Li Yang, chairman of the National Institution for Finance and Development.

Chinese bonds are relatively undervalued in the global bond market and overseas institutions would continue to add positions at the proper time, a report by investment bank CICC said.