Asia Pacific

Hong Kong fashion retailer I.T gave investors a welcome break from Chinese property supply in the high yield dim sum market on Wednesday. The small and unrated company punched above its weight and priced a Rmb1bn ($161.5m) five year deal inside some of its rated peers.

Competition between offshore renminbi hubs can greatly benefit RMB internationalisation – but only if cities focus on products and regulation rather than the race to clear renminbi, say experts.

China and Hong Kong’s regulators must move quickly to make sure the dim sum bond market remains dynamic, according to asset managers.

Benign inflation data point to weak economic growth, raising fresh concerns over the reliability of official Chinese export statistics

Borrowers interested in issuing dim sum bonds find it challenging to obtain pricing that reflects their true creditworthiness, potentially deterring other well-rated credits to enter the market.

International dim sum issuers are keen to access the market again this year to create a curve, but have raised concerns about the limitations of the swap market.

The CNH bond market has been fairly subdued this year because costs are not as attractive as they once were, deterring corporate treasurers from issuing the instrument, but there are those who are still keen.

A majority of the factors holding back the dim sum market from going global would be solved by a multi-tenor sovereign deal, with Reg-S and 144a documentation, traded around the clock.

In this roundup of recent offshore RMB news, China’s State Council airs plans for renminbi convertibility, Safe imposes new market measures, and BoCom pledges RMB/AUD direct conversion.

Following a strong run for the renminbi, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange’s (Safe) new regulatory changes could slow down the pace of currency appreciation, says the bank.