BEIJING - The total value of yuan-denominated bonds issued in China in the first quarter of the year reached 3 trillion yuan ($490 billion), up 39 percent from a year earlier, the central bank said on Monday.

Of the bonds issued during the period, 2.9 trillion yuan were issued through the inter-bank bond market, according to a report released by the People's Bank of China (PBOC)

Bonds issued in March alone hit 1.41 trillion yuan, up 21.4 percent year on year and up 99.8 percent from February.

The total balance of the bond market reached 36.7 trillion yuan by the end of March.

The PBOC announced on Sunday that banks' reserve requirement ratio (RRR) will be cut by 100 basis points (bps) from Monday, the second across-the-board cut this year and the biggest reduction since November 2008.

Since 2014, the financing costs for companies through bond issuance has been significantly reduced, the PBOC said in a separate statement issued earlier.