Recently, the first ultra-short-term financing bond of China Merchants Port Holdings Company Limited (China Merchants) in 2016 were successfully issued in the national interbank bond market, in which ICBC acts as lead manager and bookrunner. The bond represents China’s first ultra-short-term panda bond. The issue totaled RMB 4 billion, with the first tranche of RMB 1.5 billion. The funds raised will be solely used for construction and operation of silk road ports along the “Belt and Road”.

Since RMB was included in the SDR basket in 2015, RMB internationalization and two-way opening of the Chinese capital market have continued to deepen. The People’s Bank of China has issued new regulations on issuance of panda bonds, expanding the scope of issuers. In addition, National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (NAFMII) further streamlined the issuance process of panda bonds, creating a favorable environment for the rapid development of panda bonds. With the issuance of the ultra-short-term panda bond, three types (short-term, medium-term and ultra-short-term) of panda bonds are now available at the Chinese interbank bond market. The panda bonds registered by China Merchants at NAFMII totaled RMB 10 billion, including ultra-short-term and medium-term, which engaged ICBC as lead manager. The funds will be used for construction and operation of ports along the silk road. Previously, ICBC has successfully underwritten RMB 20 billion panda bonds registered by German Daimler and RMB 3 billion panda bond registered by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation. Currently, ICBC can underwrite all types of panda bonds, providing extensive experience in boosting RMB internationalization and two-way opening of the Chinese capital market.