Taiwan will soon issue first Chinese renminbi bonds

Taiwan will be the second location after Hong Kong to sell renminbi-denominated bonds.

Offshore interbank trading of the renminbi started yesterday. Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission said Chinatrust Commercial Bank could raise some US$169 million selling two- to five-year renminbi notes traded locally.

Analysts said this new development will help the internationalization of the renminbi. They noted that many Taiwanese companies want to sell renminbi bonds. Overseas corporations who do businesses with Taiwan, such as the technology companies, will want to sell bonds in Taiwan too, they said.

Taiwan’s central bank said 46 lenders have opened accounts with the island’s renminbi-clearing bank and that renminbi deposits will be accepted starting yesterday.

Chinese currency deposits held by Taiwanese lenders’ offshore units totaled US$3.5 billion at the end of November. That compares with the US$97 billion held in Hong Kong in December, according to the government. Taiwanese businesses have invested some US$200 billion in mainland China.