China

In this round-up, Chinese exports shrank in November while imports rose unexpectedly, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) will lift foreign ownership caps on life insurance companies to 51%, and the Mainland will waive import tariffs on US soybeans and pork.

GDS Holdings raised $250m from a follow-on offering of new shares on Thursday, according to a term sheet seen by GlobalCapital Asia.

Chinese real estate firms Seazen Holdings Co and China South City Holdings both came to the dollar bond market this week, making use of a narrowing window for issuance before the year ends.

GAC-Sofinco Auto Finance, a joint venture between Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance and Guangzhou Automobile Corp, wrapped up a Rmb6bn ($851m) four tranche internationally rated auto ABS deal on Thursday. The trade was priced tightly thanks to the issuer’s good relationship with banks.

Times Neighborhood Holdings is set to hit the market with its Hong Kong IPO next week, according to a source close to the deal.

In this round-up, conflicting trade war headlines confuse the market, Huawei sues the Federal Communication Commission amid public relations troubles at home and the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) signs a three year bilateral currency swap agreement with the Monetary Authority of Macao.

China Merchants Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust has raised HK$2.6bn ($327.6m) from its IPO, breaking a six-year drought of Reit listings in Hong Kong.

Chinese local government financing vehicle (LGFV) Kunming Rail Transit Group Co made its inaugural appearance in the dollar market on Thursday, raising $500m after a large price tightening.

China Bohai Bank has begun working with four Chinese banks on a multi-billion-dollar IPO expected in Hong Kong next year, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Loans bankers are having a tough time at the moment, forced to reflect on a difficult year and struggling for new deals as bonus season looms. They are spending the last few weeks of December tweaking pitches — but most admit they have little confidence about a boom in 2020. Pan Yue reports.

Investors have dumped Peking University Founder Group Co’s $2.95bn of dollar bonds after a default by the company in onshore China rattled markets. But despite numerous default situations from the country making headlines this year, market participants are not hitting the panic button just yet, writes Addison Gong.

Crédit Agricole printed a Rmb1bn ($142m) three year renminbi bond in China on Wednesday. Despite being a senior preferred deal and including write-down and conversion to equity clauses, both new to onshore investors, the Panda still managed to achieve tight pricing and a well-covered book. Rebecca Feng reports.