SHANGHAI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) issued a 3-year RMB Coronavirus Combating Bond on Thursday to raise 5 billion yuan (706 million U.S. dollars), the bank said in a statement released Friday.

The bond, issued in the China Interbank Bond Market, marked the first RMB-denominated Coronavirus Combating Bond issued by multilateral development bank in China, the statement said.

Due to an extraordinary demand from investors, the final order book was in excess of 15 billion yuan, more than three times oversubscribed, the statement said.

The bond issue was aimed at supporting the Chinese government in the financing of public health expenditure in the provinces of Hubei, Guangdong, and Henan, which were hard-hit by COVID-19.

"NDB is fully committed to supporting our member countries during this period of crisis to fight the spread of COVID-19 and stand ready to provide the necessary financing to this objective," said Leslie Maasdorp, NDB vice president and CFO.

Headquartered in Shanghai, the NDB was established by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The bank formally opened in July 2015.