Hong Kong dollar and yuan bonds forecast to sustain record growth momentum in 2026 Hong Kong’s local currency and offshore yuan bonds are expected to maintain their growth momentum in 2026, driven by deepened market benchmarks and demand, according to senior banker. The broader Asian bond market, excluding Japan, has had a busy start to 2026, with high-profile issuances in Hong Kong dollars and offshore yuan leading the way, riding on last year’s record volumes. On Friday, Kuaishou Technology sold a 3.5 billion yuan (US$502 million) five-year note – known as a dim sum bond – along with a US$1.5 billion tranche, as the short-video platform operator tapped the overseas debt market for the first time to strengthen its businesses. It followed other Chinese tech giants such as Baidu, Tencent Holdings and Meituan, which raised funds offshore last year to strengthen artificial intelligence capabilities amid fierce competition with US rivals. Additionally, three issuers raised a combined HK$14 billion (US$1.8 billion) from their respective Hong Kong dollar offerings as of January 14. “I expect Hong Kong dollar and dim sum bond issuance to rise,” said Eugene Ng, managing director and head of debt capital markets for Greater China at HSBC. “As the market matures and draws greater investor attention, more participants will naturally start to consider these instruments.” Hong Kong’s deep liquidity and diverse bond yield curves in both currencies would attract issuers and investors alike, underscoring the strength and dynamism of the city’s financial ecosystem, Ng said. In the case of offshore yuan, issuers have expanded from government entities, including China’s Ministry of Finance and the Hong Kong government, to leading Chinese companies. They are offering notes that will mature in up to 30 years. “The pipeline [in 2026] is healthy,” Ng said. The significantly expanded investor base from mainland China was expected to support the offshore yuan bond market, Ng added. In July, authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong allowed non-bank financial institutions, such as securities firms, fund managers, insurers and wealth management companies, to invest in offshore bonds through the southbound channel of the Bond Connect scheme. Chinese investors might opt for these offshore bonds due to typically higher interest rates than those offered on the mainland in today’s market environment. Dim sum bond issuances reached 769 billion yuan in 2025, surpassing the previous year’s record of 705 billion yuan, according to Bloomberg data. In 2025, the city’s local-currency bond issuance volume also reached a record HK$613 billion, up nearly 41 per cent from a year earlier. These tallies included private and public placements, as well as certificates of deposit. The momentum has continued in 2026, with Hong Kong Electric completing its maiden local-dollar public bond sale worth HK$2 billion, also the first public debt issuance by a local company in nearly a decade. Private placements have been more common when the market lacks liquidity. The Urban Renewal Authority was next with a HK$8 billion dual-tranche bond offering, followed by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank with its HK$4 billion notes. The Hong Kong dollar bond market has expanded steadily in recent years, but the latest surge was driven by the exceptionally low Hong Kong interbank offered rate earlier last year, which sharply reduced funding costs. “Issuers who used to offer US dollars will increasingly consider the Hong Kong dollar and the yuan,” said Ng, citing growing corporate needs for these currencies and a sufficient liquidity pool for them to tap into. https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3340322/hong-kong-dollar-and-yuan-bonds-forecast-sustain-record-growth-momentum-2026 (ICE HONG KONG)

Fonte notizia: South China Morning Post