BEIJING -- The share of Chinese yuan in the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket has risen from 10.92 percent to 12.28 percent, China's central bank said on its official website Sunday.

The SDR is an international reserve asset supplementing members' official reserves, which can be exchanged among governments for freely usable currencies in times of need.

In 2016, the IMF included the yuan in its SDR basket as a fifth currency, along with the U.S. dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound.

At present, Chinese yuan ranks third in terms of the weight in the SDR basket, after the US dollar and the euro.

The new SDR basket will come into effect on Aug 1, this year, according to the People's Bank of China.

China will continue to propel the reform and opening-up of the financial market, creating a better environment for overseas investors, said the bank.