Overseas investors continue to up holdings of Chinese bonds

BEIJING -- Overseas investors have been steadily increasing holdings of Chinese bonds as relatively high yield and the country's opening-up policies make the investments more attractive.

At the end of April, the total amount of yuan bonds owned by overseas institutions under the depository of the China Central Depository & Clearing Co (CCDC) rose 30.45 percent from a year earlier to over 2 trillion yuan ($282.5 billion), the CCDC said on its website.

The amount was 43.32 billion yuan more from the end of March, representing the 17th straight month of increase, the data showed.

Many major central banks around the world have been cutting interest rates to shore up economies affected by COVID-19, sending bond yields to new lows. The yield on Chinese bonds are relatively high compared to treasury bonds overseas, making them more attractive, noted Ming Ming, an analyst with CITIC Securities.

The strong growth in overseas holdings of yuan bonds was also in part boosted by the country's continued opening-up policies, which have facilitated easier access to the domestic bond market, said Chang Zheng, an analyst with Golden Credit Rating.

China further simplified procedures for foreign institutions investors to bet on China's domestic capital market Thursday, a move that analysts said would boost the value of stocks and bonds.