Asia Pacific

In this round-up, China and Myanmar have signed deals on Belt and Road projects, the central bank has kept the benchmark lending rates unchanged, and overseas investors increased their holdings of Chinese bonds and stocks by $128bn in 2019.

In this round-up, Chinese premier Li Keqiang encourages local government bond issuance, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection plans to investigate corruption around local government debt, and Shanghai is working to grow the Star board and attract more foreign investment into the city.

In this round-up, China’s economy grows at the slowest rate in nearly three decades, the central bank injects a shot of liquidity into the market through the medium-term lending facility and reverse repo, and DBS Bank (China) receives a bond settlement agent licence in the interbank market.

Jollibee Foods Corp, the owner of the eponymous fast food chain, wowed investors on Thursday with a debut $600m bond that beat the Philippine company’s targets.

In the phase one trade deal signed on Wednesday between the US and China, the majority of the agreements focusing on the financial sector are simply reiterations and elaborations of what the Mainland government has already said. But there are now some concrete deadlines in place to open up the domestic market further to foreign firms.

Four Chinese borrowers hit the dollar bond market on Thursday, competing with supply from India, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Thailand’s Central Retail Corp is on track to launch the country’s largest IPO, with bookbuilding for the deal set to open on January 20, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Indonesia's Medco Energi Internasional and Bayan Resources raised more than $1bn between them from ultra-tight bonds on Thursday.

A flurry of accelerated bookbuilds hit the Hong Kong market on Thursday night as issuers and investors squeeze through the last window for fundraising before companies go into earnings blackout and the Chinese New Year holidays.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) has hired two former Hang Seng loans banker to join its global capital finance department in Hong Kong.

Zhongce Rubber Group has returned to the international loan market for a $250m refinancing.

India’s Lalitpur Power Generation Company has postponed its attempted debut dollar bond after opening bookbuilding on Thursday, according to a source close to the situation.