Greater China

China seems ready to cut coal from what is acceptable to fund under its green bond standards, caving to the demands of sustainable investing experts. This about-face is a big and positive move for global green financing efforts, but raises questions about global green standards and how the market frames discussions about what is ‘green’.

Last week’s tap of a KWG Group Holdings dollar bond triggered a debate between bankers about what makes for good market practice. The issuer may be an established and reputable one, but the tap was priced with the borrower still in an earnings blackout. If this sort of timing were to take hold, the Asian issuers as a whole will struggle to build a globally diversified investor base.

China Railway Signal and Communication Corporation (CRSC), a Hong Kong-listed red-chip company, is seeking a Rmb10.5bn ($1.56bn) IPO on the new Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation board.

CMGE Technology Group and Haitong UniTrust International Leasing are keeping their IPO plans alive, having resubmitted applications to the Hong Kong's stock exchange.

Nasdaq-listed video streaming platform iQiyi has returned for a second time to the equity-linked market, having launched a one-day bookbuild on Tuesday for a convertible bond that could reach $1.05bn.

Shanghai Dongzheng Automotive Finance Co has relaunched its Hong Kong IPO with a fixed offer price after putting the deal on hold last week to trim the size.

Nine out of the 13 companies that submitted applications to be listed on the new Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Board have received feedback from the exchange over the weekend. However, they still have some way to go until they can execute their planned IPOs.

Chinese influencer platform Ruhnn Holding has kicked off bookbuilding for its Nasdaq IPO, targeting up to $135m in proceeds.

Dollar bonds in Asia followed the US markets’ end to last week by trading lower. Nonetheless, the continent’s investment grade issuers are looking to print with many high yield issuers still emerging from earnings blackouts.

Sun Car Insurance Agency pulled its Hong Kong listing just hours after the end of book building, as the market waited for pricing. It is instead considering floating on the new Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Board.

In this round-up, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bank of China to issue a Rmb5bn Panda bond, Bank of Beijing and ING agreed to launch a JV and the Shanghai tech board published detailed information on nine IPO candidates.

China Education Group Holdings tapped the equity-linked market on Thursday, raising HK$2.35bn ($300m) from its first convertible bond.