Central Bank of the Republic of China publishes May market statistics with CNY 7.20 trillion bond issuance and CNY 187.2 trillion in bonds on custody

The Central Bank of the Republic of China released May statistics on China’s bond, money, bill and equity markets, covering issuance and custody balances, trading activity, overseas investor participation, and the investor structure of interbank corporate credit bonds. Bond market issuance totalled CNY 7.20 trillion, including CNY 1.49 trillion of government bonds, CNY 0.78 trillion of local government bonds, CNY 1.22 trillion of financial bonds, CNY 0.90 trillion of corporate credit bonds (including non-financial corporate debt financing instruments, enterprise and corporate bonds, and securitisation products), CNY 0.02 trillion of credit asset-backed securities, and CNY 2.77 trillion of negotiable certificates of deposit. Total bond custody outstanding reached CNY 187.2 trillion at end-May (CNY 165.5 trillion in the interbank market and CNY 21.7 trillion on exchanges), while overseas institutions held CNY 4.4 trillion (2.3% of the total), mainly government bonds (CNY 2.1 trillion), negotiable certificates of deposit (CNY 1.2 trillion) and policy bank bonds (CNY 0.8 trillion). Interbank cash bond trading volume was CNY 30.7 trillion (daily average CNY 1.6 trillion), exchange cash bond trading was CNY 3.0 trillion, and commercial bank counter bond trading totalled 78,000 trades worth CNY 59.8 billion. In the money market, interbank lending turnover was CNY 6.7 trillion and repo turnover CNY 129.8 trillion, with weighted average rates of 1.55% (interbank lending) and 1.56% (pledged repo). The release also reported bill market volumes (CNY 3.5 trillion acceptances and CNY 2.9 trillion discounts) and month-end equity index levels, and showed concentration in interbank corporate credit bonds, with the top 50 investors holding 48.1% and accounting for 59.9% of trading.