China

Chinese high yield names Kangde Xin Composite Material Group and KWG Property priced new dollar deals against a weakening market backdrop on Thursday, forcing the pair to adjust their expectations in order to get ahead of an interest rate hike.

In this round-up, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe) says it expects China’s foreign reserves to grow gradually despite global volatilities, PBoC’s dollar fix remains pretty much unchanged from the previous day and the Shanghai Free Trade Zone will open up the financial sector to more foreign investment.

Export-Import Bank of China managed to achieve the lowest spread for a euro bond from a Chinese name this year with its three year in the currency, part of a $3bn-equivalent Reg S deal.

The renminbi continues to come under pressure, in part as a result of the dollar's continued upward trajectory. But while the Chinese currency is treated with suspicion and even enmity by some stateside, economist say their arguments miss the bigger picture.

Chinese high yield names KWG Property Holding and Kangde Xin Composite Material Group Co, as well as unrated Lenovo Group, launched dollar deals on Thursday morning — just one day after Indian high yield issuer Eros International pulled its bond because of weak demand.

Renminbi depreciation has been one of the market's most talked about issues with many predicting the trend to continue well into 2017. But ICBC Asia’s co-head of global markets Jimmy Jim told GlobalRMB that such fears are overblown and he believes the renminbi is maturing into a two-way fluctuating currency.

Citi and Bloomberg Barclays may have taken the leap by moving to include Chinese bonds in their indices, but index providers and investors remain cautious on the market impact of the decisions.

Export-Import Bank of China made a strong comeback to the Asia debt market on Tuesday with a $3bn equivalent three tranche dual-currency Reg S deal. Its three year euro bond achieved the lowest spread in the currency from a Chinese name this year.

After launching an indirect connect scheme last October, Deutsche Borse's Clearstream platform is now prepping a direct route into the China interbank bond market (CIBM) for its client base by next year, Philip Brown, the firm's co-CEO, told GlobalRMB.

Guorui Properties and Kangde Xin Composite Material Group are preparing for their respective debuts in the international debt market.

ICBC International Holdings, through Horsepower Finance, raised $650m on Monday, reaching its $1.2bn debt-raising cap given by regulators last year.

As the market buckles up for a March rate hike, some fixed income investors are playing it safe, becoming price sensitive to new issues. Against that backdrop, China SCE Property Holdings priced a five non call three on Monday with guidance unchanged throughout the day.