ICBC lists three bond issues in Dubai amid growth in region

Nasdaq Dubai said Wednesday in an e- mailed statement that it welcomes the listing of three bond issues by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s ( ICBC) Dubai branch, which is located in the Dubai banking free zone known as DIFC.

ICBC, China’s biggest lender by assets, listed two bond issues of $ 400 million and $ 300 million, respectively, and one issue of $ 559 million.

The exchange said that the listings “underline the expansion of the bank’s activities across the region as well as the growing financial relationship between Dubai and China.”

Five ICBC bond issues are now listed on the exchange, following the listings of a $ 500 million issue in May 2015 and a $ 400 million issue in June 2016.

China- UAE bilateral trade grew from $ 63 million in 1984 to $ 54.8 billion in 2014, and it is estimated to have reached $ 60 billion last year, according to UAE official data.

More than 4,000 Chinese companies operate in the UAE and more than 300,000 Chinese citizens live there. The UAE government supports China’s Belt and Road initiative.

In October 2008, ICBC became the first Chinese lender to set up a branch in the DIFC, the biggest financial free zone in the Middle East and North Africa.

Nasdaq Dubai is a licensed market of the DIFC.