Northeast Asia

In this round-up, China and the US will talk in Beijing at the end of the week, China’s interbank payment and settlement system survived the Lunar New Year red packet frenzy and a draft of the foreign investment law will be submitted in early March.

Sino Biopharmaceutical has turned to banks for a $700m refinancing loan. It is offering the same price as it paid for the original deal, a club loan sealed in 2016.

Chinese property issuers led the reopening of Asia’s offshore bond market following a week-long holiday in the Mainland to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Investors responded to the new deals with enthusiasm.

Pinduoduo, a Nasdaq-listed Chinese e-commerce company, has raised $1.38bn from a follow-on offering.

Just six months after listing on the Nasdaq, Chinese start-up Pinduoduo is back in the equity market to raise around $1bn from a follow-on offering.

Japanese anchor investor Norinchukin is directing issuers to print new issue euro CLOs within a week, according to market sources, leading to pressure on syndicate desks to place the mezzanine, weaker spreads — and tougher times for equity investors.

Hong Kong’s Towngas has priced a rare dollar perpetual bond, taking $300m from a deal that saw investors pump in more than $4bn in orders.

Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone State-Owned Assets Investment, a Chinese local government financing vehicle (LGFV), raised a larger-than-expected $250m from its inaugural appearance in the offshore market that was over two months in the making.

In this round-up, Bloomberg Barclays confirmed the upcoming inclusion of Chinese bonds in its indices, the People’s Bank of China will auction CNH bills in mid-February, and industrial profits in China confirmed poor ending for the economy in 2018.

In this round-up, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) issued plans to merge two long-standing access schemes for foreign investors, the United States Justice Department unveiled charges against Huawei just as trade talks were set to begin, and JP Morgan (JPM) received approval to offer Hong Kong funds in China.

Everyone new to banking has a steep learning curve. But when you live in Asia long enough, you realise the really steep curve comes in trying to understand traditional holiday-related etiquette.

Chinese automobile retailer Zhejiang Geely Holding Group has returned for a €1.4bn dual-tranche facility to refinance a bridge loan raised last year for its purchase of a share in Swedish truck maker AB Volvo.