Global bond market conditions tighten

Chinese companies will find it harder to repay their existing foreign debt due to the tight conditions in the overseas bond markets and a strengthening of the US dollar, experts said on Thursday.

The average price for Chinese non-investment bonds in the US market has dropped 0.37 cents since Monday to a one-month low of 98.26 cents, the Bank of America Merrill Lynch index showed on Wednesday. The onshore yuan value weakened 0.2 percent on Thursday, after a two-day loss of 2.8 percent following the surprise yuan devaluation on Tuesday.

Chinese homebuilders, who are the largest issuers of US dollar-denominated bonds, were hit hard by the yuan depreciation.