Foreign holdings of Chinese bonds rose to a record high at the end of the first half of 2019.
The latest data from China Government Securities Depository Trust & Clearing Co. Ltd (中央国债登记结算有限责任公司) indicate that as of the end of June holdings of Chinese bonds by offshore institutions rose to a record high of 1.6452 trillion yuan, after rising for the seventh consecutive month.
Offshore institutions also held a further 309 billion yuan in Chinese bonds via Shanghai Clearing House.
Simon Jin, president, Greater China, S&P Global, said to state-owned media that while the share of domestic bonds held by foreign investors remained only small at present, it would gradually increase in the wake of further opening of the Chinese bond market.
Xiong Qiyue (熊启跃), a researcher with the Bank of China International Finance Research Institute, said that offshore investors currently account for a less than 3% share of China’s bond market, and that there is still ample room for further opening measures.
