Beijing's first green bond heavily oversubscribed

Bloomberg

China has pulled more than 37 billion yuan (HK$39 billion) of investor bids for its first-ever sale of a green sovereign bond, as it looks to raise as much as 6 billion yuan.

The Chinese Ministry of Finance set the initial price guidances of the three-year and five-year offshore yuan-denominated notes at yields of around 2.3 percent and 2.35 percent, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The plan is to list the debut green offering in London, highlighting China's recent efforts to build closer bilateral financial ties with the United Kingdom.

China's government earlier held an investor conference in the city and has ambitions of tapping a European market that's the world's largest buyer of sustainable debt.

"Even the opportunity to have a meeting, that's unprecedented," said Xuan Sheng Ou Yong, sustainable fixed-income lead for Asia-Pacific at BNP Paribas Asset Management in Singapore.

It's rare for investors to have opportunities to engage with the nation's finance ministry "to talk about its plans, the state of economy, its decarbonization strategy," he said.

The debt issuance plan was first made public in January, when the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer visited Beijing and both countries pledged to enhance financial cooperation and boost capital market partnerships.

It also comes as China ramps up offerings in overseas markets, including a US$2 billion (HK$15.6 billion) bond sale in Saudi Arabia in November and a 2 billion euro (HK$17.16 billion) deal in Paris in September.