China

The China Securities Regulatory Commission has reopened the Chinese government bond (CGB) futures market to commercial banks and insurers after a 25-year ban, kicking off a pilot programme.

In this round-up, the number of global cases of the novel coronavirus has spiked, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission has concluded a two-year takeover of troubled Anbang Insurance, and the Star board will speed up the review process for IPOs from companies focusing on controlling the epidemic.

Asia’s bond market has had an undeniably stellar start to 2020. Despite the spread of the novel coronavirus, now named Covid-19, investors are continuing to buy bonds at remarkably tight prices as issuance accelerates. But the non-stop enthusiasm raises a serious question — are market participants too positive?

Artificial intelligence company Megvii Technology's Hong Kong IPO prospectus is set to expire on Tuesday. The company, which delayed its deal earlier in February, plans to resubmit a listing application, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Chinese travel services provider Trip.com Group has picked Standard Chartered as the mandated lead arranger and bookrunner for a $1.2bn refinancing deal.

In this round-up, the central bank announced an expected cut to the loan prime rate (LPR), the publishing of monthly credit data for January came later but better than expected and offshore investors have increased their exposure to domestic Chinese bonds since Lunar New Year.

In this round-up, China is set for an unprecedented postponement of its March “Two Session” meetings this year, premier Li Keqiang cautioned against the potential economic fallout from the novel coronavirus outbreak, and the US designated five Chinese media outlets as foreign missions.

Three Chinese issuers visited the dollar bond market on Thursday, raising $1.2bn between them.

AK Medical Holdings has raised HK$803m ($103m) from a top-up placement of new shares that was launched on the back of a near 80% jump in its stock price year-to-date.

BMW Automotive Finance’s Rmb8bn ($1.14bn) dual-tranche return to the Chinese auto ABS market this week was a success. The tight pricing is expected to allow other issuers to also lower their coupons, said bankers on the deal.

Chinese delivery services company SF Express is planning to repay a HK$5bn ($640m) loan sealed in September 2019 with the proceeds of a longer tenor bond issued last week.

China Forestry Group, a state-owned company that cultivates and manages forest reserves in the country, has closed its $145m loan with four banks.