LONDON (REUTERS) - China is set to issue government debt in renminbi in London, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, and may announce the move when Chinese President Xi Jinping visits London next week.

The move would make London the first financial centre outside China to offer its sovereign debt, the FT said.

Citing officials familiar with the issue, the newspaper said the plan is to issue Chinese treasury bonds in renminbi in London after laying the foundations with earlier launches of short-term debt by the People's Bank of China, the central bank.

British finance minister George Osborne said on a visit to China in September that investors' appetite for trading offshore renminbi remained enormous despite recent market volatility and would increase in the future.

Osborne wants more Chinese investment in Britain and has championed London's bid to become the dominant centre for offshore yuan trading in Europe.