Linklaters

Linklaters marks the first anniversary of the landmark Hopewell Highway Infrastructure dim sum bond offering by advising China’s Ministry of Finance on the sale of its RMB 20 billion of sovereign bonds in Hong Kong - by far the largest ever offshore RMB bond transaction.

China’s Ministry of Finance completed the tender of RMB 15 billion of sovereign bonds in Hong Kong today and will commence the retail offering of RMB 5 billion of sovereign bonds from 18 August. The RMB 15 billion institutional offering includes four tranches - RMB 6 billion of three-year bonds, RMB 5 billion of five-year bonds, RMB 3 billion of seven-year bonds and RMB1 billion of 10-year bonds.

The size of this deal is testimony to the depth of the rapidly growing offshore RMB bond market and the liquidity which is now available. Linklaters has from the outset been at the forefront in developing the legal framework for the offshore RMB bond market. The firm has acted on more offshore RMB bond transactions to date than any other law firm, including the first repeated issues by HHI, the first corporate issuer, and Caterpillar, the first industrial multi national issuer.

"This is the third offshore RMB sovereign bond transaction by China’s Ministry of Finance and Linklaters is honoured and pleased to have acted on all three of these prestigious mandates."

"The coupons of the multiple tranches in this transaction are expected to set important benchmarks for the market for pricing longer tenor papers. This is a very significant transaction that confirms the status of Hong Kong as the pre-eminent international settlement centre for offshore RMB."

Notes to Editors

• Linklaters LLP is a leading global law firm, supporting clients in achieving their strategies wherever they do business. We use our expertise and resources to help clients pursue opportunities and manage risk across emerging and developed markets around the world
• Linklaters has been at the forefront in developing the legal infrastructure required for the offshore RMB bond market. The firm advised on the first ever offshore RMB financing – the Hopewell Highway Infrastructure transaction and it has since established a dominant market share, including advising:
•  CJ CheilJedang Corporation – the first RMB bond issuance by a Korean corporate

• Global Logistics Properties – the first RMB bond issuance by a Singaporean corporate

• on Orix Corporation’s RMB 400m bonds – the first renminbi bond issued by a Japanese issuer

• on Caterpillar Financial’s RMB 1bn 2% bonds due 2010 – the first RMB bond issuance by a industrial MNC

• Ministry of Finance, BOC, CDB and CEXIM on RMB bond deals (US$2.3bn in total)

• Sinotruck on RMB 2.7bn bonds – the first RMB bond issuance by a redchip

• World Bank and International Finance Corporation on their offshore RMB bond issues