As the most globalised Chinese bank, BOC provides a wide range of financial services for customers across onshore and offshore China as well as more than 60 countries and regions. The strong cross-border business franchise has made BOC the number one choice for customers with cross-border business. Being one of the opinion leaders in Chinese onshore and offshore debt capital markets, BOC has fulfilled the mission of showcasing the world the value of Chinese credits as well as assisting more high quality issuers to step into onshore and global financial markets. BOC offers a comprehensive series of financial, investment and wealth management products to personal, corporate and institutional clients. Among these high-quality products, cross-border bonds including panda and offshore bonds are the flagship products, as BOC prides itself being the leading bank in international bond markets and providing its clients with more diversified global funding resources.
In 2023, BOC has once again been in 1st place in the offshore China bond market, marking the eighth year that the bank has clinched the industry’s top accolade since 2016. As of 31 Dec 2023, BOC has underwritten 65 deals with total underwriting volume equivalent to US$2.56bn and covered 50.38% of the total deals during the year. Recognised for its innovation abilities, BOC provides a full range of services in debt capital market, including the currencies of US dollar, euro, sterling, offshore renminbi, Hong Kong dollar, Macau pataca and Australian dollar, and a variety of products. BOC aims to effectively build a bridge straddling the domestic and international markets through its leading underwriting services and selling abilities. The bank was lead underwriter for the Ministry of Finance of China in its CNH denominated offshore bond offering, and arranged three CNH local government bonds in 2023, which comprised Hainan’s Rmb5bn CNH bonds with sustainability, green and blue tranches, including the first biodiversity-themed green bond from a Chinese local government, Guangdong’s green local government CNH bonds issued in Macau, which is China’s First Local Government Green Bond aligned with the Updated “Common Ground Taxonomy”, and Shenzhen’s Rmb5bn offshore CNH bonds. The issues effectively promoted cross-border financial connectivity and cooperation, expanded and deepened the CNH debt capital market, and contributed to the internationalization of RMB.
Fully utilizing the two-way opening-up reformation trend of the bond market, BOC has also brought to market a series of innovative solutions which combined international traditional fixed income products together with localized regulatory characteristics. BOC printed the first USD Yulan bond in 2021 and followed it with the first CNH Yulan bond this year, issued by its Macau branch. It also brought the landmark issue of the first Hainan Free Trade Port Themed Sustainability bond. As one of the first recognized depository and clearing banks, BOC acts as the leading market maker in the Southbound trading leg of Bond Connect and helps to promote the connection between onshore and offshore markets. BOC is also a pioneer and leader in the green bond market. The tally of its onshore green bond underwriting added to more than Rmb341.66bn as of the end of 2023, topping the list of all Chinese underwriters with a 15.70% market share. The bank, acting through its Sydney Branch, successfully issued the USD-denominated 3-year SOFR floating-rate senior unsecured sustainability-linked loan bond(SLLB) . It is the World’s First Ever US Dollar Sustainability-Linked Loan Bond & APAC’s First Ever Sustainability-Linked Loan Bond, supporting the interconnection between sustainability-linked loan market and capital debt market.
Since the Panda bond market reopened in 2014, BOC dominated the Panda bond underwriting league table and contributed to product innovation with milestones of remarkable issuance. In 2023, BOC continues to maintain its leadership in the market, with a market share of nearly 23% in the China interbank Panda bond market, still ranking first. BOC has actively expanded its scope from Asia, Europe, America, the Middle East, Africa and many countries and regions along the “Belt and Road”, and has successfully underwritten about 38 Panda bonds last year. Its clients include Hungary, Portugal, Poland, Egypt, AIIB, New Development Bank, ADB, Crédit Agricole, Mercedes-Benz and BMW so far. Besides, BOC has committed to promoting product innovation and to creating and fostering a diverse and inclusive environment that ensures the Panda bond market will gain development and prosperity. As the left lead underwriter, BOC assisted CSSC (HK) Leasing to sell the first sustainability-linked Panda bond. Also in 2023, BOC brought Deutsche Bank to the onshore market for the first Panda bond from a German financial issuer, and helped the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank issue total Rmb4bn sustainable development Panda bond, as well as bringing the first African Panda bond: Egypt’s Rmb3.5bn sustainable issue, which was also the first sovereign Panda to use a guarantee structure.
Attributed to the globalised and integrated financial service network, BOC has managed to set up a multinational franchise for clients—a dynamic mechanism that is built in the Head Office in Beijing, mobilizing bond underwriting and distribution forces from Hong Kong, London, Singapore and Luxembourg centers. Operating and supporting this extensive network, BOC has a large pool of seasoned talents, plus a full line-up of products and services that cover the entire value chain, ranging from underwriting, issuance, pricing and distribution, to trading, investment and research. Besides this, BOC has built a cross-selling platform that covers not only issuers but also investors, from both domestic and international markets, with its offshore deals in 2023 including a US$3.5bn sukuk for Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. It provides different types of investors a greater variety of investments to include in their portfolios, and businesses the possibility to raise the capital they need in the market of their choice. Attributed to the ongoing reformation and opening-up of the Chinese capital market, BOC will seize the chance to grow as a more internationalized and multifunctional bank and contribute to create a more resilient, well-functioning, international and globally coherent debt securities market environment in China.
