Mainland banks issue renminbi bonds in Taiwan

Four mainland-headquartered banks on Tuesday issued bonds in renminbi worth 6.7 billion yuan (1.1 billion U.S. dollars) in Taiwan.

The bonds were issued on the GreTai Securities Market by Bank of Communications (BCM), Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), Bank of China (BOC) and China Construction Bank (CCB).

BCM issued 1.2 billion yuan in bonds, ABC 1.5 billion, while BOC and CCB issued 2 billion each.

It took the total bonds issued in renminbi in Taiwan to 10.6 billion yuan (1.67 billion U.S. dollars). The first bonds, 3.9 billion yuan, were issued in March.

Adam Chan, head of global market of the HSBC Bank (Taiwan), said renminbi deposits in Taiwan totaled 123.2 billion yuan in October, compared to 3.9 billion yuan worth of bonds that month, which suggested a sizable market for renminbi bonds in Taiwan.

Wu Soushan, chairman of GreTai Securities Market, said issuingyuan-denominated bonds is a crucial step towards building Taiwan into a RMB offshore center.

Wu added that after the renminbi flow-back mechanism is fully established, financial support to industries from both sides and trade between the two sides will be boosted.