Euromoney, May 2017
With the planned launched a of a new bond-trading link between Hong Kong and the mainland and the inclusion of Chinese domestic bonds in some international indices, it appears that international access to the world’s third-largest debt market is easier than ever. But don’t be fooled, we are still years from meaningful engagement of international capital in this Rmb64 trillion ($9.3 trillion) market.
“Keen would be an overstatement,” says Chantal Grinderslev, senior adviser at Z-Ben Advisors in Shanghai, when asked if her international clients are keen to get greater exposure to Chinese domestic bonds. “Bond inclusion right now is a non-issue.
“There’s a general acknowledgement that the fixed income market has potential in the long term. Unfortunately, long-term potential means underinvestment today in managers’ capabilities to service those flows.
“We’re talking about the world’s second-largest economy, third-largest fixed income market and yet most global asset managers have zero exposure to renminbi fixed income.”
Foreigners held only 1.3% of China’s interbank market at the end of 2016. The definition of an interbank market is different in China to elsewhere in the world: in China, it accounts for more than 90% of all traded bonds in the country.
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