Greater China

A UBS economist’s allegedly offensive comment about "Chinese pigs" has ensnared the Swiss bank in a series of unfortunate events, including being kicked off a planned dollar bond deal for China Railway Construction Corp. The backlash is overblown but serves as a warning for banks dealing with China.

Alibaba Group Holding’s board of directors has begun preparations for a planned IPO of up to $20bn in Hong Kong, proposing a stock split that will give the company flexibility for future capital market activities.

China Everbright Bank has become the latest Chinese lender to tap the offshore market for floating rate notes (FRN), raising $500m at an aggressive level on Monday.

Shanghai Junshi Biosciences’ shareholders have given the green light to the firm’s proposal to float primary stock on Shanghai’s new Nasdaq-style board, according to an exchange filing.

Shares in Huatai Securities, the Chinese brokerage, rose as much as 12% on Monday morning after the company’s global depositary receipts began trading in London via the London-Shanghai Stock Connect programme.

A group of US senators have proposed a bill that threatens to block the IPOs of many Chinese companies in the country, and cause the delistings of mainland stocks from US exchanges.

In this round-up, the Mainland’s industrial production and other activity slowed in May, the Chinese foreign ministry urged the US to stop interfering with the country’s ‘internal affairs’ and the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) tried to calm the market again regarding Baoshang Bank’s bailout.

China’s Kingboard Chemical Holdings has returned to the loan market for a HK$5bn ($638.7m) facility, a year after sealing a larger deal.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) has introduced rules for daily trading limits, limit order price ranges and treatment of ‘abnormal fluctuations’ for the Star Market, its new technology innovation board that is in its final preparation stage.

China’s Ascentage Pharma Group International and CIMC Vehicles kicked off pre-marketing for their respective Hong Kong IPOs on Monday. Both are expected to launch bookbuilding by the end of June.

Chinese components manufacturer Impro Precision Industries has opened books for its HK$1.1bn ($140.49m) IPO after receiving Hong Kong Stock Exchange approval for its float.

Property developer China Jinmao Holdings Group priced a $250m deal last week, including $145m of new money, as part of an exchange offer that had a participation rate lower than 20%.