BEIJING - China's Shanghai Stock Exchange will release an index for green corporate bonds and establish a board for such bonds to facilitate financing for environmentally friendly projects.

The index and the board will be launched "at an appropriate time," according to the exchange.

It said a total of 14 corporate bonds and three asset-backed securities had been issued for the green sector at the exchange by the end of February, raising 22.3 billion yuan ($3.2 billion).

The funds went to such fields as energy conservation, pollution control and clean transportation, it noted.

Earlier this month, China's securities regulator, which oversees the country's corporate bond market, pledged to cut red tape to accelerate green corporate bond issuance.

Green bonds have attracted an array of favorable measures from the government, which is trying to improve fundraising for the green sector, a key part of policymakers' efforts to make the economy more environmentally -friendly.