On January 19, Hongshi Holding Group Co., Ltd. announced that it has successfully issued the “Belt and Road” (B&R) construction corporate bond on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), which was also the first B&R construction corporate bond publicly offered by a domestic enterprise.
The success in launching the corporate bond marked another move taken by the SSE to implement the requirements of the 19th CPC National Congress for “pursuing the B&R Initiative as a priority and putting equal emphasis on ‘ushering in’ and ‘going global'” and continuously promote the two-way opening up of the domestic capital market under the unified leadership of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).
The publicly issued B&R construction corporate bond of Hongshi Holding Group Co., Ltd. was underwritten by Guotai Junan Securities Co., Ltd. with the issuance size at RMB300 million and the interest rate at 6.34%, and the 3-year bond recorded a total of 2.67 times in subscription, with both the issuer and the bond rated at AAA and the raised funds to be used in purchase of relevant equipment for the Hongshi cement project in Vientiane, Laos. As one of the major B&R construction projects involved by Zhejiang’s enterprises, the project was included in the “Collection of Major B&R Construction Projects Involved by Zhejiang Province” in June 2017. After the completion, the project is expected to produce 2 million tons of high-grade cement annually, which will meet the demand for high-quality cement in construction of large-scale infrastructure in Laos and contribute to exporting China’s advanced cement technology and equipment, so as to upgrade the overall cement industry in Laos.
The B&R construction is an important initiative for building a new economic pattern in China and promoting common prosperity among the countries and regions along the lines of the B&R construction. Under the leadership of the CSRC, the SSE has thoroughly implemented the decision-making arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and achieved significant progress in boosting the support of the capital market for financing and serving the B&R construction. In terms of ushering in, in March 2017, United Company RUSAL Plc (UC RUSAL), a Russian large-sized key enterprise, successfully issued the first sum of Panda Bonds on the SSE, which was also the first sum of Panda Bonds offered in China by an enterprise based in a country along the B&R. The successful issuance of the B&R construction corporate bond of Hongshi Holding Group Co., Ltd. was another attempt made by the SSE to vigorously support the domestic enterprises in going global, accumulating useful experience in the capital market supporting the B&R construction and achieving the encouraging demonstration effect.
Going forward, the SSE will fully implement the requirements of the 19th CPC National Congress, further propel the opening up of the exchange-traded bond market in accordance with the unified arrangements of the CSRC, continue to support the relevant institutions and high-quality enterprises in China and the countries along the B&R in investment and financing on the SSE, and energetically push the capital market to better serve the B&R construction.