Greater China

A handful of Chinese investment grade rated state-owned companies are gauging investor appetite for new deals amid a weak market backdrop.

China’s stock market regulator has published draft rules for the issuance and listing of China Depositary Receipts (CDRs).

After opening the Panda bond market in the mid-2000s, International Financial Corporation (IFC) has been absent from the asset class for over a decade. But Jingdong Hua, treasurer at IFC, told GlobalRMB that this could change — if China lets the issuer use its own accounting standard again.

Zhongsheng Group Holdings has raised HK$3.9bn ($500m) from a 2023 convertible bond. It plans to use the proceeds to buy back its debut CB, executing a deal with a rare structure, according to a source close to the transaction.

The underperformance of China Aoyuan Property Group’s bond on Thursday cast a shadow over new issues from Yuzhou Properties Co and Fantasia Holdings Group Co, with pretty muted responses for both deals.

The People’s Bank of China publishes new rules governing the RMB qualified domestic institutional investor scheme, China and Nigeria ink a swap line, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange pledges further reforms.

UBS and two others announce China JV plans, the domestic iron ore futures contract opens to foreign traders, and Shanghai and Shenzhen get approval for their Dhaka exchange acquisition plans.

The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges have won a bid to buy a 25% stake in Bangladesh’s Dhaka Stock Exchange, according to a joint statement from the Chinese acquirers.

China Kepei Education Group has filed a listing application in Hong Kong through sponsors Citi and CCB International.

China’s regulators are planning to push ahead with a long-awaited delivery versus payments upgrade for Bond Connect as early as next month, GlobalRMB understands. The move addresses one of the major headaches for foreign investors using the scheme to buy onshore renminbi bonds.

National governments must ensure the sustainability of infrastructure financing before signing up to projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Takehiko Nakao, president of the Asian Development Bank, told GlobalRMB at the development bank’s annual conference on Thursday.

Bank of China (BoC) plans to play to its strengths by deploying its balance sheet and providing liquidity to parched investors. With syndicate and trading operations in place, it has hired Tim Skeet as head of Western European origination.