The People's Bank of China (PBC), the central bank, has recently given approval for 10 overseas financial institutions to enter China's interbank bond market, which is the country's latest move to promote internationalization of the yuan, analysts said Tuesday.

According to a statement posted by the China Foreign Exchange Trade Center (CFETC) on its website Monday, the central bank has allowed 10 institutions, including nine bank-affiliated companies and one insurance company, to enter the interbank bond market.

The institutions include seven foreign branches of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the Taiwan-based JihSun Bank and the offshore banking unit of Taiwan-based First Commercial Bank.

Lu Zhengwei, Shanghai-based chief economist with Industrial Bank Co, told the Global Times Tuesday that the central bank plans to further internationalize the yuan by allowing more overseas entities to enter the interbank bond trading market.

"If an investor living in, say, Indonesia wanted to invest in yuan-denominated bonds, he could hardly find that opportunity. But if a bank registered in Indonesia is allowed to practice bond trading in China, the investment process will become a lot easier," Lu said.

China's central bank has so far given approval for 77 overseas institutions to trade in the interbank bond market, the National Business Daily reported Tuesday. The bank approved 24 institutions this year, 15 last year, and 38 in 2011, the report said.

A veteran banking industry analyst who spoke to the Global Times Tuesday on condition of anonymity said that the overseas institutions add to the market's diversity and increase liquidity.

Lu agreed with the banking industry analyst, adding that the Chinese institutions operating in the interbank bond market are very similar, and the central bank wants to create a more diversified and vibrant market by allowing overseas entities in.

ICBC's London, Moscow and Indonesia branches are among the seven ICBC branches that were approved.

"The bank has strategies to conduct cross-border yuan business, which has been growing fast in recent years," Lu said.

The volume of ICBC's cross-border yuan business hit 1.5 trillion yuan in the first nine months this year, a rise of 26.7 percent year-on-year, according to the company's third-quarter earnings report.