Greater China

A busy weekend for Chinese authorities as seven new currencies were named to be traded directly with the renminbi, the dollar fix breaks 6.9 again on Monday, and a clearing bank is appointed in Dubai.

China's Tewoo Group snapped up $300m Thursday, leveraging off its appeal as an investment grade name with an international presence.

Property developer Country Garden Holdings has signed a $1.5bn dual currency syndicated loan for general corporate purposes, including prepayment of debt.

Two firms with Asian links canned their US floats this week, with InnoLight Technology Corp and Ironshore announcing they have dropped their listing plans.

Chinese e-commerce solutions firm Baozun has raised $73.5m after closing a follow-on placement multiple times covered, despite its stock having a wobbly start to the week.

Local government financing vehicles from China brought out a parade of deals on Friday, with issuers including those from Jiangsu and Shanxi fighting for investors' attention in the Asia ex-Japan debt capital markets.

Changde Urban Construction and Investment Group Co priced its inaugural international bond on Thursday, getting its deal done before the New Year. The local government financing vehicle (LGFV) snapped up $250m from the three year notes.

Hebei Yichen Industrial Group Corp opened books on a HK$839.6m ($108.3m) IPO in Hong Kong on Thursday, signing up three cornerstone investors.

In this round-up, China saw another sizeable drop to its foreign exchange reserves in November, the Shenzhen Connect saw subdued trading activity in its first four days, and Egypt signed its first currency swap line with China. Plus, a recap of our coverage this week.

Debut issuer Fujian Zhanglong Group Co started taking bids for a three year bond, following a roadshow in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

A HK$4.851bn ($625m) leveraged buyout financing to back the acquisition of Wharf T&T by MBK Partners and TPG Capital has closed in syndication, with 13 banks joining the leads.

China Railway Construction Corp (CRCC) has sold its second convertible bond of 2016, this time a renminbi-denominated, dollar-settled trade linked to the offshore RMB spot price. Chinese issuers are warming to the structure amid concerns about RMB depreciation, as investors bear the currency risks. John Loh reports.