China has announced its first sale of government bonds in yuan outside the mainland.

The government will sell 6bn yuan ($880m; £534m) of bonds in Hong Kong to "improve the international status of the yuan," the finance ministry said.

The sale is a milestone as China opens up its financial markets and promotes its currency as a world benchmark.

Earlier this year, China's central bank called for a new global reserve currency to replace the US dollar.

It's a small trial balloon rather than a declaration of war. But you don't do something like this without considering the implications for the longer term.