Asia Pacific

In this round-up, consumer inflation in China turns positive in December, Beijing announces rules to protect Chinese companies from sanctions of foreign governments, and the banking and insurance regulator hands a Rmb200m ($30.1m) fine to financial institutions including China Development Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

In this round-up, the central bank sets working goals for 2021, the Chinese government extends its policy to support small and micro-sized enterprises, and the US bans eight Mainland-based applications including the popular Alipay and WeChat Pay.

Five Chinese corporate borrowers pushed into the debt market on Thursday, capping a frantic pace of deal flow this week that set a new record for Asia bond issuance.

Hong Kong-based property developer New World Development Co (NWD) opened a new area of issuance for Asian borrowers on Thursday when it sold the region's first dollar sustainability-linked bond.

Bank of China sold its debut transition bond on Thursday, giving the still nascent market a big boost by opting for a dual currency dollar and renminbi deal.

Chinese originator Home Credit Consumer Finance Co sold a Rmb1bn ($155m) consumer loan ABS this week, opting for a different type of underlying assets compared to its past deals.

China Huarong Financial Leasing Co wooed investors with a $300m short-dated bond on Thursday to meet some of its general funding requirements, returning to the debt market less than six months after its last outing.

Gracell Biotechnologies has raised $209m from its Nasdaq IPO after increasing the size of the float and pricing the deal above the initial marketed range.

Hong Kong-listed Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group and China Hongqiao Group have added to the burst of convertible bond activity in the first week of 2021, raising a combined $900m from the equity-linked market on Thursday.

SAIC-GMAC Automotive Finance Co has sold the first auto loan ABS transaction of the year in China, printing a Rmb10bn ($1.55bn) deal this week.

Monita Chang, a senior director in Mizuho’s debt structuring and syndication team in Hong Kong, is leaving the bank, according to a source close to the situation.

HSBC’s aims to boost market share in investment banking and rebalance towards Asia remain intact despite the resignation of one of its most senior lieutenants. But 2021 must be about execution, writes David Rothnie.