Bank of China marks listing of green bonds at London Stock Exchange

The Bank of China on Friday marked the listing of $2.2 billion of sustainable bonds at the London Stock Exchange, celebrating a move that further demonstrates Chinese institutions' commitment to climate change.

The new Sustainability Re-linked Bond aims to offer investors exposure to a portfolio of underlying corporate loans specifically linked to sustainability performance targets, and provides a means of channeling capital markets funds toward companies and projects incentivized to work toward a greener future.

The event also marked the secondary listing of Bank of China's other sustainable bonds, including blue bonds, transition bonds and biodiversity bonds, which were issued over the past year, making it the first ever bank from Asia to issue a biodiversity-themed green bond, and the first commercial bank to issue a blue bond.

Speaking at the listing ceremony, Zheng Zeguang, China's ambassador to the United Kingdom, said: "China and the UK have respective strengths in green and low-carbon development, and great potentials for cooperation. Green finance is certainly a key area where our two sides can work together.

"Since 2015, four Chinese financial institutions have issued nine green bonds with a value of 4.28 billion US dollars in the UK. Today's listing is yet another outcome of the joint efforts of Chinese and British financial institutions. It is also a testament to the broad prospects for China-UK cooperation on green finance," Zheng said.

John Glen, economic secretary to the Treasury and city minister, hailed the listing and said: "It is particularly fitting that we are here on what is the final day of COP26, celebrating the integral role that UK capital markets and Chinese banks have to play in financing the global green transition."

Glen added that the listing is "a real and very welcome sign" of China's commitment to the UK and Chinese banks' efforts to coordinate with London on green finance.

Fang Wenjian, general manager of Bank of China London Branch, said: "This is a unique transaction that provides a strong link between the sustainable bond and sustainability-linked loan markets, and represents a first for the ESG (environmental, social, and governance) finance market.

"As the curtains close on COP 26, human kind has really only just started to address and tackle the very serious climate challenges we are faced with," he said.

"We are now in a race to net-zero, not a walk. Bank of China and other Chinese banks are fully committed to joining hands with our UK friends and partners," he added.