China encourages foreign-invested banks to underwrite local govt bonds

BEIJING -- Local governments will be guided to revise rules to allow foreign-invested banks to underwrite bonds issued by them as part of the country's financial market opening-up, the Ministry of Finance said.

Allowing foreign-invested banks to participate in underwriting local government bonds would help expand the issuance channel, investor base and the market's opening-up, the ministry said Monday in a statement on its website.

Foreign-invested banks include solely foreign-funded banks, Sino-foreign joint venture banks and Chinese branches of foreign banks.

Foreign-invested banks have already participated in underwriting bonds issued by the governments of Ningbo, Chongqing, Tianjin and Qingdao cities, as well as the government of Guangdong province, the ministry said.