Julie Becker, CEO of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, delivers a speech at Wednesday's ceremony to mark the bond issuance. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
China has made a significant move to strengthen its financial presence in Europe by issuing 4 billion euros ($4.61 billion) of sovereign bonds in Luxembourg, the first time the Chinese government has sold euro-denominated debt in the nation.
Tuesday's issuance by China's Ministry of Finance received an overwhelmingly positive reception from global investors.
The operation included two tranches: a 2 billion-euro four-year bond priced at a coupon rate of 2.40 percent, and a 2-euro billion seven-year bond at 2.70 percent. Market participants showed enthusiasm, with total orders reaching 100.1 billion euros, or 25 times the size of the issuance. Demand for the seven-year tranche was particularly notable, with a subscription rate of 26.5 times its size.
The investor base demonstrated broad diversity, both geographically and institutionally. European buyers represented the largest share at 51 percent of allocations, followed by Asia with 35 percent, the Middle East with 8 percent and offshore US investors with 6 percent. Institutional categories included sovereign investors (26 percent), fund and asset managers (39 percent), banks and insurers (32 percent), and trading institutions (3 percent). All bonds issued will be held in the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU) and be listed on both the Hong Kong Stock and the Luxembourg stock exchanges.