BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank said Friday that it has approved a World Bank unit to issue bonds denominated in special drawing rights (SDR) in the country's interbank bond market.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development was approved to issue 2 billion SDR (2.79 billion U.S. dollars) of bonds, the People's Bank of China said in a statement on its website. Chinese yuan will be the currency of the settlement.

The first batch of bonds will be put on the market soon, said the statement, though a detailed schedule was not provided.

The inclusion of yuan in the IMF's reserve currency basket, known as the SDR, will take effect in October.