China

Chinese conglomerate Sinochem made its debut in the Hong Kong renminbi market this week, raising Rmb3.5bn ($530m) after approaching investors with a deal that gave it a big saving over where it could fund in China’s domestic bond market.

The Republic of the Philippines lived up to its reputation as a fast mover in Asia’s bond market this week when it once again became one of the first issuers to raise money at the start of a new year.

China continued to dominate discussion among DCM bankers at the start of 2011, after a breakthrough year in 2010 that included both the rise of the offshore renminbi market and the growing importance of Chinese property companies for the high-yield market.

VTB Capital issued an offshore Rmb1bn bond on December 10, making it the first non-local emerging market borrower to issue in renminbi. However, although the market is expected to grow, the deal is unlikely to herald a flood of renminbi issuance in the near future, said dealers.

Development Bank of the Philippines hopes to become the latest borrower in the global peso bond market, after picking banks to manage a deal.

Shui On Land this week became the first ever issuer to sell a synthetic renminbi deal in the public bond markets, with a Rmb3bn ($450m) transaction that got big demand from investors and neatly demonstrated the strength of demand for renminbi debt and the suitability of the synthetic currency product for Asia’s bond market.

The fledgling offshore renminbi bond market in Hong Kong took a big step forward this week with one landmark transaction completed and another underway — bringing high yield and a Russian bank to the market.

Dim sum bonds — renminbi bonds issued in Hong Kong — continue to flourish in a hungry institutional market. This week Export-Import Bank of China (Chexim) priced a dual tranche Rmb5bn ($750m) bond whose institutional tranche was covered 53 times over.