Chinese Firms Are Issuing the Fewest Dollar Bonds in a Decade
- The second quarter’s total plunged 78% to $8.7 billion
- Yuan-bond issuance topped $600 billion, second-busiest quarter
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Chinese firms’ dollar-bond issuance hit the lowest level in a decade during the second quarter, and there are few near-term catalysts to reverse the trend as cheap onshore borrowing costs, a property debt crisis and economic uncertainty persist.
Activity last quarter slumped 78% from a year earlier to $8.7 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. From 2017 through 2021, quarterly totals regularly topped $40 billion. In contrast, dollar-bond issuance by European borrowers has been running near a record-high pace.