China

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) will lower the reserve requirement ratio for small and medium sized firms, it said on Monday morning. The central bank announced the move amid worsening trade negotiations with the US.

In this round-up, US president Donald Trump threatened more tariffs days before the eleventh round of trade talks, Bond Connect gained 134 new foreign institutional investors in April thanks to Chinese bond inclusion, and China’s State Council standardised government investment.

Tencent Holdings has seen an impressive rally in the secondary market for its recently issued dollar bonds, a reflection of strong investor appetite for investment grade supply amid underwhelming issuance volumes in 2019.

China’s real estate company Greenland Holdings has returned to the offshore loan market after a two year absence, offering a juicier price this time.

The shares of Chinese plastic surgery social network So-Young International surged on their first day trading on the Nasdaq, after the firm priced its hot IPO at the top of guidance.

China’s Suning Financial Services, a subsidiary of home appliance company Suning Holding Group, is tapping the offshore loan market with a $300m borrowing.

In this round-up, the trade negotiation between China and the US finished its tenth round, China PMI fell in April after previously rebounding and the chairman of the banking and insurance regulator promised more reform.

China’s Zai Lab has priced a follow-on sale of 7.8m American Depository Share (ADS), its second since its listing on the Nasdaq.

Viva Biotech Holdings has pulled off an impressive HK$1.52bn ($194m) Hong Kong IPO, striking retail gold as the local public swamped the deal, grabbing half of the stock for themselves. The high level of retail interest is a rarity for IPOs in the city and something that is often unwanted, bringing potential wild price swings to a stock soon after listing, say some bankers. But others foresee enough institutional demand to swallow any bulk selling in the first days of trading. Jonathan Breen reports.

Although the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) has received 98 applications from companies hoping to launch an IPO on its new tech board, a lengthy and complicated approval process has revealed some of the problems facing potential listing candidates. Meanwhile, there are doubts over some of the investors preparing to buy into the market. Rebecca Feng reports.

Duiba Group raised $667m after concluding its second attempt at listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The Tianjin government’s waning support for local corporations was brought into focus this week, when Fitch downgraded Chinese dollar bond issuer Tewoo Group by a hefty six notches. It was the latest warning sign of the debt-servicing ability of the city’s struggling state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Addison Gong reports.