B&R bonds issued to finance initiative

COMPANIES now have a new channel to finance their Belt and Road projects as China has introduced Belt and Road bonds to fund the massive initiative.

Zhejiang-based Hengyi Petrochemical Co on Monday issued 500 million yuan (US$79 million) of three-year B&R corporate bonds on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

The proceeds from the bonds will be used to fund the company’s petrochemical project in Brunei, it said in a statement to the bourse.

This came after China allowed domestic and overseas companies as well as government-backed institutions in countries along the B&R to issue such bonds via the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission said on Friday that it had approved applications from seven domestic and overseas firms to issue a combined 50 billion yuan in B&R bonds to fund the initiative.

Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road initiative aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa based on ancient land and maritime trade routes.

Chinese companies have built 75 zones for economic and trade cooperation in 24 countries along the B&R routes, contributing more than US$2.21 billion of taxes and creating almost 209,000 local jobs.

Jiang Chao, senior researcher at Haitong Securities, sees B&R bond issuances to rise.