Chinese lenders lead the pack in Asia debt sales in first half of 2015

Chinese banks, encouraged by Premier Li Keqiang's "going-out" strategy, are rocketing up the international bond arranging league tables in Asia, leaving investment banking stalwarts in their wake.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd, the world's biggest lender by assets, jumped four spots from the end of last year to No 11, its all-time best among arrangers of sales in either dollars, euro or yen, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Bank of China Ltd advanced five places to No 6 in the first six months of the year, as Barclays Plc and UBS Group AG dropped out of the top 10.

Companies in the world's second-biggest economy, faced with growth last year that was the slowest in more than two decades, are looking overseas to expand, and they are taking the nation's banks with them. China Three Gorges Corp, the operator of one of the world's largest hydropower dams, raised $1.5 billion selling bonds in dollars and euros in June, using the proceeds to pay for offshore projects. Four Chinese were among the eight institutions on the debut international offering.