HSBC scores a first in China

HSBC has become the first foreign bank in China to use the Bond Connect to issue yuan-denominated bond on the Chinese mainland’s interbank bond market.

The 2 billion yuan (US$305 million) three-year bond was oversubscribed with over a third of the take-up being overseas investors, the bank said yesterday.

Launched in July, the pilot scheme is the fourth channel for overseas investors to buy onshore bonds after the China Interbank Bond Market direct access, the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor and Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor.

China boasts a US$9.3 trillion bond market, the world’s second-biggest after the United States.