China

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s offshore debt regulator, has denied considering a ban on bonds with maturities of under one year, giving the market some relief. But confusion and worry remain, writes Addison Gong.

China’s Ministry of Finance sold Rmb5bn ($755.5m) of offshore RMB bonds on Thursday, and managed to keep the coupons of the two tranches below last year’s levels. But analysts say the sovereign’s success was limited by a modest fundraising target, which partly reflects the shift of focus to onshore Chinese bonds.

Inke priced its Hong Kong IPO at the low end of expectations on Thursday to raise HK$1.2bn ($152.9m), amid investor jitters about a China-US trade war.

An event of default has occurred on Hong Kong-listed Wuzhou International Holdings’ $300m bond, after the company failed to make principal payments of Rmb1.002bn ($151m) on its onshore loans.

Property firm Greentown China Holdings has closed an $800m borrowing after attracting 17 lenders during syndication, according to a company filing.

Want Want China Holdings became the first issuer from Taiwan to tap the onshore Panda market last week, the company told GlobalRMB. But it is unclear how strong an appetite the food manufacturer has for this asset class, having raised just Rmb500m ($75m) in its debut.

Hong Kong start-up Welab Holdings has filed a listing application with Morgan Stanley as lead left underwriter and sponsor alongside JP Morgan.

Asia’s primary bond market has been deathly silent this week, slammed shut by a pair of public holidays and a gun-shy investor base. But borrowers continue to wait on the sidelines, ready to jump at any chance they can get.

One year since the launch of Bond Connect, central bank officials say increasing liquidity on the bond link and harmonising the scheme with other access programmes are the key tasks at hand.

The emergence of securitization deals equipped with international ratings are a sign that Bond Connect investors are aiming for variety beyond government bonds, a senior official at the Chinese central bank told GlobalRMB on Tuesday.

Opera’s planned $115m Nasdaq IPO now has a cryptocurrency angle after Bitmain, a Chinese bitcoin miner, joined the deal as an anchor investor.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s offshore bond regulator, has described media reports claiming it would ban bonds with maturities of under one-year as “groundless”.