12 FTZ Offshore Bonds Issued Since Restart, Totaling RMB 4.3 Billion

Since the restart in June 2025, FTZ offshore bonds have been issued continuously. As of July 28 this year, a total of 12 bonds have been issued over the past year or so, with total issuance size of approximately RMB 4.3 billion. The issuers and investors of the restarted FTZ offshore bonds are both from offshore, achieving the 'both ends outside' principle. Among the issuers, all 12 bonds were issued by overseas branches of Chinese financial institutions, with nine issued by overseas branches of large state-owned banks, accounting for three-quarters.

The 'Shanghai International Financial Center Development Offshore Financial Action Plan' released in June this year proposed that Shanghai should become a strategic hub for high-level coordinated development of offshore and onshore markets by the end of 2035, with FTZ offshore bonds being the first pilot business. The market was launched in 2016, and from 2019 to 2023, a total of 189 bonds were issued with a size exceeding RMB 120 billion. However, at that time, issuers were mainly local government financing vehicles and subscribers were domestic banks, evolving into 'both ends inside', leading to a regulatory halt. In June 2025, the People's Bank of China announced the restart of FTZ offshore bond issuance, strictly adhering to the 'both ends outside' principle.

In July 2025, Bank of China Hong Kong Branch completed the pricing and issuance of the world's first FTZ offshore bond. Bank of China and Bank of Communications each issued three bonds, China Construction Bank issued two, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China issued one, and the remaining three were issued by Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hong Kong Branch, Guotai Haitong Financial Holdings Co. , Ltd. , and Dongfang Zhisheng Co. Investors also came from offshore, such as the bond issued by Bank of Communications Hong Kong Branch in August 2025, which attracted investors from Hong Kong, the Middle East, Central America, and other regions.

Currently, all 12 bond issuers are overseas branches of Chinese financial institutions, with no purely foreign issuers. The Action Plan proposes to further broaden the investment and financing channels for 'going out' enterprises and high-quality enterprises from countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative. In June this year, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and other institutions signed agreements with relevant partners, with proposed issuers including overseas subsidiaries of Chinese 'going out' enterprises, overseas branches of financial institutions, and high-quality enterprises from Belt and Road countries and regions. Among them, Astana City Transport System LLP of Kazakhstan signed a financing intention agreement with China Securities Co. , with proceeds used for the construction of the Astana light rail.

The issuance currency is mainly RMB, with only one bond in Hong Kong dollars. Maturities range from three months to three years, and interest rates are between 1.6% and 1.9%. This interest rate level is far lower than that of major international currency bonds such as US dollar and euro bonds of the same maturity. FTZ offshore bonds rely on domestic financial infrastructure and the vast onshore RMB liquidity, while aligning with international rules, forming a multi-tiered bond financing system together with panda bonds and dim sum bonds.