BEIJING — China's bond market registered steady growth in the first quarter (Q1), providing support for the country's social and economic development as well as its fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak.

A total of 12 trillion yuan (about $1.7 trillion) of bonds were issued in Q1, up 14 percent year-on-year, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said on April 5 in an online statement.

The total bond balance rose 4 percent from the end of last year to 103 trillion yuan.

The issuance of corporate credit bonds surged 35 percent year-on-year to 3 trillion yuan, and net financing via bonds stood at over 1.7 trillion yuan, according to the PBOC.

Private enterprises issued bonds worth around 210 billion yuan in Q1 with net financing hitting about 93 billion yuan, a record high in nearly three years.

By the end of March, 822 overseas institutional investors had entered the interbank bond market, holding 2.26 trillion yuan of bonds, the PBOC data showed.