Done in partnership with ASIFMA, the Asia Credit Report is a quarterly report on the trends and statistics of the Asian bond market, including both the investment grade and high yield bond market. Additional statistics on the G3 and CNH markets are also included.

For more information on ASIFMA’s efforts in Asian fixed income, please visit ASIFMA.

Summary

Market Overview and Highlights of Asia (ex-Japan, Australia and New Zealand) debt issuance in Third Quarter 2017

Total issuance in 3Q’17 came in at USD 67.8 billion (bn) as of September 30, down 14.6% quarter-over-quarter (qoq) from 2Q’17 (USD 79.4bn) but up 18.2% year-over-year (yoy), inclusive of high grade (HG), high yield (HY), and unrated deals. Year to date, total issuance was USD 230.8bn, already exceeding all of 2016 issuance (USD 204.7bn). Overall, 3Q’17 has seen strong Asian market activity while Western markets slowed during the traditional summer lull. This is due to several factors contributing to this growth: historically low interest rates and volatility levels, search for yield from investors, abundant investor demand and liquidity.

Domestic CNY Issuance

Total domestic CNY issuance stood at USD 179.8bn in the third quarter of 2017, up 36.5% from the second quarter (USD 131.8bn) but a decline of 15.8% yoy (USD 213.4bn). By tenor, 64.6% of third quarter issuance (USD 116.1bn) would mature in five years or less, followed by the “other” bucket (USD 19.2bn, or 10.7% of issuance). By sector, finance led issuance totals (USD 61.6bn), followed by construction (USD 30.2bn). Despite the slight uptick in third quarter volume, domestic CNY volumes in 2017 in the first three quarters combined were half that of 2016 volumes, with USD 412.0bn issued year to date in 2017 compared to USD 808.1bn issued in 2016.

Offshore Renminbi (CNH) Issuance

The pace of offshore issuance picked up slightly in the third quarter; an equivalent of USD 8.4bn in CNH bonds were issued, an increase of 25.1% qoq and an increase of 55.5% yoy. In terms of tenor, 82.5 % all of third quarter issuance was accounted for by transactions with tenors of 5-years or less, with slightly less than a fifth of overall volume from short-term paper (USD 1.5bn). HG deals rated AA- totaling USD 6.8bn had the highest share among rated deals (80.0%). In terms of sector, only finance (USD 8.4bn) and computers & electronics (USD 28.2mn) deals were issued in the third quarter.

Credits

ASIFMA

• Executive Director, Fixed Income: Vijay Chander
• Associate: Timothee Bihet

SIFMA Research

• Managing Director, Head of Research: Kyle Brandon
• AVP: Sharon Sung