China mulls rules on panda bond issuance in exchange bond market

File photo shows a view of the Lujiazui area in Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

China's top securities regulator has stepped up drafting detail rules on panda bond issuance in the exchange bond market, reported Securities Daily on Wednesday.

According to China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the provisions for issuing panda bond, or yuan-denominated bonds sold by overseas issuers in China, in the exchange bond market will include rules on issuance entities, requirements on review and filing, application of accounting standards, access of intermediary agencies and management of foreign exchange.

Cao Yuanyuan with Golden Credit Rating believed this move will make issuance of panda bond in the exchange bond market easier and more standardized. Besides, it will facilitate the connectivity between China's interbank bond market and the exchange bond market, improving the volume of panda bond issuance in the exchange bond market.

Cao added that China's interbank bond market has become a major choice for panda bond issuance because of its standardized process and easy access after the introduction of the Bond Connect.

The issuance of panda bonds has reached 14.5 billion yuan (about 2.29 billion U.S. dollars) as of Feb. 22 this year, data by financial information provider Wind showed. During the period, a total of nine such bonds were issued by seven market entities.

Among them, only one was issued in the exchange bond market, while eight were issued in the interbank bond market, which echoed the view of Cao.