Article content

(Bloomberg) — China kicked off its first-ever sale of a green sovereign bond, as it looks to raise as much as 6 billion yuan ($826 million) in an offering it plans to list in London. 

Article content

The Chinese Ministry of Finance set the initial price guidances of the three-year and five-year offshore yuan-denominated notes at yields of 2.3% and 2.35%, according to a person familiar with the matter. The notes could be priced as early as today, the person added. 

Article content

The decision to list its inaugural green bond in London highlights China’s recent efforts to build closer bilateral financial ties with the UK. China’s government earlier held an investor conference in the city and has ambitions of tapping a European market that’s the world’s largest buyer of sustainable debt. 

The debt issuance plan was first made public in January, when the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer visited Beijing and both countries pledged to enhance financial cooperation and boost capital market partnerships. It also comes as China ramps up offerings in overseas markets, including a $2 billion bond sale in Saudi Arabia in November and a 2 billion euro ($2.2 billion) deal in Paris in September.

While global issuance of green bonds slowed in the final three quarters of 2024, Chinese entities are the largest issuers of the notes so far this year, data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence show.

China, the world’s top polluting nation, is on track to peak its greenhouse gas emissions, and potentially ahead of a 2030 deadline. The nation is pursuing a range of initiatives to accelerate decarbonization, including work to expand its emissions trading market and to extend its rapid uptake of renewable energy, Premier Li Qiang said in an annual work report last month. 

—With assistance from Lorretta Chen.

Share this article in your social network