Northeast Asia

Chinese property developer Yanlord Land Group is mulling increasing the size of its latest borrowing after over $1bn of commitments poured in for the $600m loan.

More details emerge on the seven new free trade zones (FTZs), State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe) releases more foreign investment quotas, and China responds to US executive orders on trade ahead of Xi Jinping’s meeting with Donald Trump on Thursday.

Shanghai Sinooil Energy Holding Hong Kong, a unit of China Energy Reserve and Chemicals Group, has had commitments from 23 banks during syndication of its debut $400m offshore loan.

Guotai Junan Securities Co has wrapped up its HK$16.5bn ($2.1bn) IPO, after a flood of late demand.

CK Hutchison Holdings, through CK Hutchison International (17), raised $1.8bn across two tranches on Thursday while competing with seven other issuers in the busy Asia debt market.

Chinese iron and steel making conglomerate Hesteel Group Co has snapped up $500m on the back of a price rally in the steel sector onshore, with bankers praising the company’s efforts to woo accounts during a roadshow.

China New Higher Education Group is set to launch the roadshow for its $150m Hong Kong IPO on April 3, according to a source close to the deal.

Renminbi’s share of international payments rises slightly in February, Liaoning free trade zone (FTZ) allows foreign investors to build renminbi pool, and the Chinese president Xi Jinping to meet with his US counterpart for the first time. Plus a recap of this week’s coverage.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) could soon be home to the A-shares of foreign companies. A decade old initiative to bring firms based in Shanghai’s Free Trade Zone (FTZ) into the A-share market has resurfaced and the first foreign stock could be up for grabs on the SSE within a year, writes Jonathan Breen.

The first quarter loan syndication numbers for Asia ex-Japan are out and they are not pretty, with volumes plummeting 50% year-on-year. But with some big M&A deals in the works, bankers are bullish about the second quarter and expectations are rising for more activity from China and India.

Asia ex-Japan G3 DCM volume reached a new high in the first quarter, with high yield names staging a resurgence. Chinese borrowers dominated the market, but given their deal timing is being tightly regulated, high yield credits from the rest of Asia are jumping into action, buoying sentiment for the next quarter. Addison Gong reports.

Tightening bank budgets may mean cutting back on business trips, but sometimes making those trips is the only way to get the full picture.