China

Kangde Xin Composite Material Group looks likely to be one of the first Asian issuers to default on a dollar bond in 2019, with missed payments onshore expected to trigger a cross default.

Greenland Holding Group has taken the first step towards refinancing its 2019 maturities, pricing a $300m bond in a busy period for Chinese real estate issuers.

Junson Development International offloaded a 2.52% stake in property company Longfor Group on Wednesday, raking in HK$3.4bn ($434.2m).

China Yuanfang Group filed a draft IPO prospectus in Hong Kong on Wednesday, adding to a growing list of Mainland education firms hoping to float in the city.

The party in Chinese high yield real estate bonds continued this week, with China Aoyuan Group, Zhenro Properties and Yuzhou Properties taking home $1.15bn between them on Tuesday.

China’s Bank of Communications Financial Leasing Co managed to raise the upper end of its $1.5bn target size at a tighter-than-expected level on Tuesday, a feat achieved despite a busy bond market in Asia.

The US government shutdown hit 24 days on Monday, a record kerfuffle for the country. As primary equity markets teams, most importantly at the Securities and Exchange Commission, run on skeleton crews, the IPO pipeline could come under some threat.

Mainland firm Shanghai Gench Education Group is planning to list in Hong Kong and has submitted its draft prospectus to the stock exchange.

Future Land Development Holdings got a head start on other high yield issuers gearing up to hit the bond market this week, raising $300m on Monday at a level that was 37.5bp inside initial guidance.

Chinese oil major Sinopec has received approval from the country’s regulator to list its retail business in Hong Kong, according to a source close to the situation.

China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange expanded the total available quota for the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) scheme, one of the country’s longest-standing capital markets access programmes. The move came before the upcoming further inclusions of Chinese securities in global investment indices.

Sub-one year dollar bonds from Chinese issuers are back, but this time they are being used strategically to get reasonable pricing during tough times. Rather than condemn this tenor, it is time to view these notes for what they are — practical and providing flexibility.