BEIJING - China's bond market posted rapid growth last year, with more overseas investors engaged, central bank data showed Friday.

Spot transactions on the country's bond market rose 44.6 percent in 2018 to 156.7 trillion yuan ($23.2 trillion), according to the People's Bank of China (PBOC).

Most of the trading occurred on the inter-bank bond market, with transactions hitting 150.7 trillion yuan, up 47.2 percent.

As of the end of 2018, 1,186 overseas institutional investors participated in the inter-bank bond market, 380 more than a year earlier, the PBOC data showed.

China has been stepping up efforts in recent years to allow foreign investors wider access into the fast-growing domestic bond market, including lifting quota restrictions and creating more investment approaches.

Bond yields dropped last year, with the yield for one-year treasury bonds down 119 basis points year-on-year to 2.6 percent at the end of December, according to the PBOC.