Trading in yuan-denominated securities got underway on the Frankfurt stock exchange Wednesday, hailed as the first such market outside China.

The platform, first announced during Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to China last month, is to allow investors in Europe to trade securities denominated in the Chinese currency.

It is the first yuan market authorised outside China, according to Han Chen, the platform's joint CEO.

"The first trades have already taken place in the early hours of market operations," exchange operator Deutsche Boerse said in a statement, after the "China Europe International Exchange" or CEINEX, opened at 9:00am (0800 GMT).

The platform is a joint venture between Deutsche Boerse, the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the China Financial Futures Exchange.

For now, it offers trading in index-linked funds and "a wide range" of yuan-denominated futures", but more types of securities are to be made available, the joint CEO said.

After failing to merge with NYSE Euronext in 2012, Deutsche Boerse's development strategy has been focused on cooperation with Asia.

It signed a deal with Bank of China in 2014 to establish a clearing division for yuan currency transactions in Frankfurt.

China search giant Baidu plans to open online bank
Shanghai (AFP) Nov 18, 2015 - China's main search engine Baidu plans to launch an online bank with financial services group Citic, the two companies said on Wednesday, as the Internet firm seeks to compete with rivals moving into banking.

The Baixin Bank, a venture between Baidu and China Citic Bank, will be the country's first lender formed by an Internet company and a traditional bank, Baidu said in a statement.

Beijing-based Citic Bank, the banking arm of Citic group, will be the controlling shareholder, it said in the statement to the Shanghai stock exchange. The new bank will have two billion yuan ($313 million) in registered capital.

Neither company gave the size of Baidu's stake in the bank, which still requires regulatory approval before opening.

"The establishment of Baixin Bank will mark a milestone for Internet finance in China," Baidu chief executive Robin Li said in the company statement.

Baidu, often portrayed as the Chinese equivalent of Google, dominates search in the country but is seeking to diversify beyond its traditional business. It already has an online payments platform called Baidu Wallet.

E-commerce giant Alibaba and Tencent, operator of the popular messaging app WeChat, have beaten Baidu into the banking sector with ventures of their own.

Alibaba owns 30 percent of an online bank, MYbank, through its Ant Financial Services unit. The bank opened in June.

In January, Tencent launched an online bank called WeBank, in which it holds a 30 percent stake.

Citic Bank was up 4.57 percent in Shanghai and rose 0.79 percent in Hong Kong, where it is also listed, on Wednesday afternoon.