China to allow bond issuance to fund Belt & Road projects

BEIJING, March 3 (APP):China will allow domestic and overseas companies to issue bonds via the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges to fund projects under the Belt and Road Initiative, the country’s securities regulator said.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said government-backed institutions in countries along the Belt and Road can also issue similar bonds in China, China Global Television Network (CGTN) reported on Saturday.
The initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa based on ancient land and maritime trade routes.
Many of the projects under the program have so far been bankrolled by the Silk Road Fund, Chinese policy banks such as China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China, and the China-initiated Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Foreign banks, including Citigroup, HSBC and Standard Chartered, have also been seeking to champion their role in the initiative.
The issuing of bonds is one way of attracting additional funding. Seven companies have gained the CSRC’s nod to issue the Belt and Road bonds worth 50 billion yuan (7.9 billion US dollars) through the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, and four of them have issued 3.5 billion yuan worth of bonds, according to CSRC.