China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) will offer seven-year book-entry treasury bonds with a total par value of 26 billion yuan (3.8 billion U.S. dollars) Thursday, the ministry said.

Interest on the bonds would be paid every March 11 until 2017 when the last interest payments and principals would be paid back together, according to a statement on the website of MOF released Wednesday.

The issue of the bonds would finish next Monday, and from March 17 the bonds could be traded on the interbank bond market and securities bond market, according to the statement.

This was the 5th batch of book-entry bonds MOF has issued this year, the ministry said.

Book-entry bonds are the bonds recorded in the investors' securities accounts called book entries. They can be traded on the open market, and their market prices can deviate from par value.