China raises $6bn as US investors look past political tensions

The rising tensions between Washington and Beijing did not deter US-based investors from participating in the deal.

China has raised $6 billion in a dollar bond issue that was offered to US investors for the first time just weeks before the Nov. 3 election, a term-sheet reviewed by Reuters showed.

FILE PHOTO: The sign of China's Ministry of Finance, pictured in Beijing (REUTERS)

The deal, the fifth foreign currency denominated bond since China reinstated its offshore debt sales programme in 2017, attracted $27.2 billion in orders, the term-sheet showed.

China has issued four dollar bonds and one euro bond in the past three years.

The debt was priced at 25 basis points above US Treasuries for the $1.25 billion three-year tranche, 30 basis points for the $2.25 billion 5-year tranche, 50 basis points for the $2 billion 10-year tranche and 80 basis points for the $500 million 30-year tranche, the term-sheet showed.

“The successful issuance of the US sovereign bonds has helped establish and improve a yield benchmark of more market significance for Chinese issuers,” China’s finance ministry said in a statement.

It was the first time China has offered debt to US-based investors who were most active in the longer-dated tranches of the transaction.

The rising tensions between Washington and Beijing did not deter US-based investors from participating in the deal, according to one person with direct knowledge of the matter.

The person could not be named because he was not authorised to speak to media.

“We did not see the geopolitical situation scaring people away,” he said.

The deal was finalised on Wednesday as the stand-off between Washington and Beijing showed no signs of easing.

The US State Department has submitted a proposal for the Trump administration to add China’s Ant Group to a trade blacklist, according to two people familiar with the matter, before the financial technology firm is slated to go public in Shanghai and Hong Kong.