China

The People’s Bank of China will impose reserve requirement ratio (RRR) on offshore RMB deposits starting from January 25, the central bank said on Monday. Many market participants reckon the move shows the determination of the PBoC to stabilise the renminbi.

The Asian bond market woke up to a pair of Chinese investment grade credits on Tuesday with Bank of Communications Hong Kong and China Nonferrous Metal Mining looking to tie up their respective dollar deals.

Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim) is gearing up to sell its first Panda bond in 2016. The policy lender is considering the asset class due to its attractive pricing when compared with offshore renminbi bonds.

Chinese company Haier has enlisted three lenders to fund its $5.4bn acquisition of Kentucky headquartered GE Appliances.

China’s stock market regulator has conceded that it made mistakes following June 2015’s market crash and that its system for governing the country’s financial markets is inadequate.

Standard & Poor’s has warned that Chinese property developers could be in line for possible rating downgrades if the renminbi continues to depreciate.

The Province of British Columbia (BC) is set to price its debut Panda bond on Thursday, January 21. The up to Rmb3bn ($457m) three year offering is being marketed at a range of 2.6%-3.0%, several sources have told GlobalRMB.

China’s central bank drew a lot of criticism this week for its decision to intervene in the offshore renminbi market. But David Bloom global head of foreign exchange strategy at HSBC, says the People’s Bank of China was correct in trying to stop the CNH depreciation.

In this round-up, China's RMB trade settlement touches a new high, Hong Kong RMB clearing grew by 30% in 2015, South Korea's RMB deposits shrank by 75% over the year, Singapore plans closer cross-border RMB co-operation with China, and several Belt and Road initiatives were announced. Plus, a recap of GlobalRMB's top stories this week.

Chemicals group ChemChina will use the proceeds of a bridge facility to support its €925m acquisition of German manufacturer KraussMaffei Group, announced on Monday.

A big spike in the interbank rate for offshore renminbi has cast doubts over the development of the nascent CNH Hibor loan market. The changes in the overnight rates unnerved bankers, who responded that a wait-and-watch approach would be the most sensible, writes Shruti Chaturvedi.

China’s Panda bond market has gained further momentum with successful issues from a pair of offshore listed companies on the country’s exchange market.