The China offshore USD bond new issuance rose to USD88.5 billion in 2024, representing a year-on-year (“yoy”) growth of 42.0%. The new issuance was mainly attributed to more favorable financing conditions and strong refinancing needs. As for the China offshore RMB bonds, the new issuance reached USD38.2 billion in 2024, showing a similar yoy growth rate of 41.2%.
The new issuance amount of China local investment and development companies (“LIDCs”) (in all currencies) surged by 92.8% yoy to USD49.4 billion in 2024. The large amount of maturing bonds drove LIDCs to refinance through issuing debts. The lower financing cost also contributed to the growth of new issuance, despite the central government and relevant authorities still posed stringent regulations on LIDCs’ new offshore debt issuance.