China

Larger trading volumes in offshore renminbi (CNH) as a result of the currency’s erratic behaviour delivered a rise in Standard Chartered Renminbi Globalisation Index in January, helping to offset falls in deposits and dim sum bonds.

The influx of Chinese M&A into Europe has brought the terrifying task of evaluating the credit risk of clandestine Chinese state-owned enterprises — but the loan structures used so far protect lenders from the unknown.

Chinese state-owned enterprise Yunnan Water Investment has obtained board approval to issue offshore debt.

Chinese regulators are set to soon release official guidelines on the new scheme liberalising access to the China Interbank bond market (CIBM), according to Standard Chartered (StanChart). In the meantime, more details of how the scheme will work have come to light.

The reduction in cross-border lending to China and increased capital outflows observed in 2015 might be more tied to a reduction in offshore RMB deposits than capital flight, according to the Bank for International Settlement (BIS).

Jiayuan International Group raised HK$1.12bn ($144.16m) from its Hong Kong IPO after selling shares at the top of the marketing range, in a deal driven mainly by Chinese investors.

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has issued the most detailed outlook so far on what it sees as its foreign exchange policy going forward. Meanwhile, the stabilisation of the onshore RMB (CNY) rate against the dollar means that there is more optimism in the outlook for the currency.

In this round-up: Hong Kong cross-border trade settlement fell again at the start of the year, RMB deposits were steady in Hong Kong but falling in Singapore, Brics New Development Bank will set up in Shanghai, and PBoC said a swap line with Bank of Russia had been activated. Plus, a recap of our top stories this week.

Ping An Real Estate Capital has set out for a $200m loan that comes with an unspecified greenshoe option.

Crédit Agricole has received a bond underwriting licence from Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC). The country presents a great opportunity for global issuers in dollars but it could be some time before renminbi issuance revives.

Russian gas company Gazprom has raised €2bn ($2.2bn) from Bank of China, marking its largest fundraising directly from a single financial institution and its first bilateral loan from a Chinese lender.

The unusual financing structure that China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) is using for its $43bn acquisition of Syngenta drew a varied response from banks in Europe this week. Some saw the non-recourse structure for $20bn of the debt as shielding lenders from exposure to ChemChina, while others did not.