Offshore RMB market setting records, moving further ahead

THE offshore renminbi (RMB) bond market looks set to hit a new record this year, with an estimated total of more than RMB550 billion (S$105 billion) of issuance. The 2013 figure of RMB385 billion was itself a record.

The development of this market is seen as a cornerstone of Beijing's policy of progressively internationalising its currency. "It is China's ambition to internationalise the RMB," says Qiong wu, executive director, fixed income research, Bank of China International (BOCI) in Hong Kong. "For that to succeed, the RMB has to become an investment currency."

The fast-growing bond market is also proving a boon to China's banks and corporates. Although the RMB still has some way to go until it can stake its claim alongside established currencies…