Northeast Asia

Has Zhongrong Xinda Group Co, a Chinese bond issuer, missed a coupon payment? That was the impression given by the Shanghai Clearing House this week. But on the same day, the issuer said it had, in fact, repaid the money — privately.

China Hongqiao Group, an aluminium producer, has returned to the loan market for a $200m borrowing,

China’s Luxshare Precision is in the market seeking a $500m revolving credit facility, returning to bank lenders after an absence of three years.

Genius Auto Finance, a joint venture between Geely Automobile and BNP Paribas Personal Finance, will follow BMW and SAIC-GMAC and sell a Rmb4bn ($574.2m) three tranche deal on March 10.

LVGEM (China) Real Estate Investment Co raised $450m as part of a new money and exchange offer on Tuesday. The borrower opted for an exchange offer on its old 2020 bond as a way of reducing the impact of recent volatility.

Bank of China made headlines last week for selling the first offshore Covid-19 linked bond. But the trade's status as a social bond — the first to come offshore from China — got less attention. The transaction shows the potential for social bonds from the country, while raising questions about why it has taken so long to see such a deal.

BMW Finance, a wholly owned special purpose vehicle of BMW, brought a Rmb3.5bn ($502m) dual tranche private placement Panda bond on Tuesday. Both tranches received plenty of demand from domestic investors, the result of flush liquidity onshore.

China Water Affairs Group is back in the loan market with a $100m club deal.

SAIC-GMAC will sell a Rmb3bn ($430m) auto loan deal next week, marking its first securitization this year.

In this round-up, China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) dropped to record lows in February, the Hainan provincial government has stepped in to restructure HNA Group and the updated Securities Law took effect on Sunday.

China’s new securities law went into effect on Sunday, making major changes that will benefit issuers in the ‘enterprise bond’ market much more than their counterparts in the rival ‘company bond' market, according to bankers.

Chinese biotechnology company InnoCare Pharma has won final approval for its Hong Kong IPO. The next step is marketing the deal, after delayed investor meetings in February.