Greater China

More Chinese technology start-ups have come out with their IPO plans, as Pinduoduo, Aurora Mobile and Opera file their US debuts.

Hong Kong was inundated with IPO filings this week as banks sought to give themselves enough runway to launch deals before the end of the year.

Xiaomi Corp may have raised a little less than expected in its much-hyped Hong Kong debut, but China Tower Corp is ready to steal the thunder with a juicy $10bn IPO.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s offshore debt regulator, has denied considering a ban on bonds with maturities of under one year, giving the market some relief. But confusion and worry remain, writes Addison Gong.

China’s Ministry of Finance sold Rmb5bn ($755.5m) of offshore RMB bonds on Thursday, and managed to keep the coupons of the two tranches below last year’s levels. But analysts say the sovereign’s success was limited by a modest fundraising target, which partly reflects the shift of focus to onshore Chinese bonds.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s revolutionary change to its listing regime for biotechnology companies is starting to pay off, as the pipeline of pre-revenue firms looking to go public builds. But there are numerous challenges ahead, not least in understanding the sector and the risks involved. Jonathan Breen reports.

Inke priced its Hong Kong IPO at the low end of expectations on Thursday to raise HK$1.2bn ($152.9m), amid investor jitters about a China-US trade war.

An event of default has occurred on Hong Kong-listed Wuzhou International Holdings’ $300m bond, after the company failed to make principal payments of Rmb1.002bn ($151m) on its onshore loans.

Cornerstone investors used to be the trusted, fail-safe, mechanism that ensured the success of Hong Kong IPOs. Not anymore, writes Clawback columnist Philippe Espinasse.

Mainland firms Hujiang Education & Technology Corp and China Beststudy Education Group are planning to list in Hong Kong, having submitted IPO documents to the stock exchange.

Property firm Greentown China Holdings has closed an $800m borrowing after attracting 17 lenders during syndication, according to a company filing.

United Asia Finance, a Hong Kong-based consumer loan provider, has closed its latest dual-currency borrowing, raising the equivalent of HK$4.7bn ($599m).