The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) issued 25 billion yuan in renminbi central bank bills via Hong Kong on 22 August.
The issue consisted of 10 billion yuan in 3-month central bank bills and 15 billion yuan in 1-year central bank bills, with rates of 1.90% and 2.30% respectively.
The issue saw the participation of commercial banks, central banks, funds and insurance companies from North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific, and was three time oversubscribed, with a bidding volume of 75 billion yuan.
PBOC said that the oversubscription rate served to “clearly show the strong appeal of renminbi assets to offshore investors, and reflect the confidence of global investors in the Chinese economy.”
According to state-owned media, the regular issuance of renminbi central bank bills via Hong Kong serves to “diversify renminbi investment products and liquidity management tools in Hong Kong, as well as spurs mainland financial institutions, enterprises and other entities to issue renminbi bonds in the offshore market.”
“In recent years, the issuance of renminbi government bonds, financial bonds and enterprise bonds in the offshore market has continually increased, and issuance methods and locations are constantly becoming more diversified.
“This clearly indicates the positive role played by renminbi central bank bills in driving the development of the offshore renminbi market.”
