Greater China

In this round-up, the International Monetary Fund revised its forecast on Chinese economic growth upwards to 6% in 2020, Chinese banking institutions recorded more assets but also more liabilities last year and the Securities Association of China updated its guidelines on due diligence for corporate bond underwriters.

There was a burst of activity from Chinese pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the equity capital markets this week, as the sector took centre stage following the spread of a flu-like virus that has already claimed lives on the mainland. Jonathan Breen reports.

China’s biggest clearing houses have slashed their fees for the registration of new bonds.

Nomura has hired Pei Shen Chou as joint head of its mergers and acquisition team in Asia, in a move to grow the bank’s M&A business in the region.

Sino Biopharmaceutical issued a zero coupon convertible bond on Wednesday, boosting the size to €750m as demand poured in from across Asia, Europe and the US, according to multiple sources close to the deal.

Hengda Real Estate Group Co, a subsidiary of China Evergrande Group, raised $4bn across two tranches on Tuesday, just days after Evergrande nabbed $2bn from another bond sale.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has asked questions about Founder Securities’ application to sell an onshore bond, but put a pause on approving a planned issuance by Haikou Meilan International Airport Co. Both Founder’s parent company and Meilan have missed bond payments in 2019.

Does complaining about technology make me a curmudgeon? Then so be it.

Investors have been showing a clear preference for subordinated bank bonds in the primary market, with the valuations for more senior asset classes having been squeezed into extraordinarily tight levels in 2020.

Midea Group Co became the second Chinese company to be removed from the MSCI China All Shares Indexes and the MSCI Global Standard Indexes after its foreign ownership reached 28%.

Ant Financial’s planned Hong Kong listing is just one of many jumbo deals that could land on the bourse this year. But few issuers will have such a clear path to success. The Alibaba halo should not be underestimated.

Shangri-La Asia raised S$250m ($185.3) from the Singapore dollar bond market on Tuesday, after seeing an opportunity for unrated issuers in the city.