Rise in offshore bond issuance may continue

Offshore bond issuances by Chinese corporates are likely to continue to rise this year, having hit a record high last year, as onshore market conditions might remain tight amid continued regulatory efforts to contain financial risks, said Fitch Ratings in a report.

"Among the offshore bonds issued in 2017, Chinese corporate bonds quoted in US dollar were widely distributed in 37 industries," said Zhang Yu, manager of the macro fixed-income department at Minsheng Securities' research office. "Banking industry ranked the first, followed by the real estate industry."

Chinese corporates' onshore bond issuance slumped by 32 percent to 5.7 trillion yuan ($899.70 billion) in 2017, the first annual decline since 2010, as regulatory tightening pushed up funding costs.