China offshore green bond market fell to record low in 2023
February 7, 2024
China’s offshore green bond market stumbled last year, hitting a record low amid rising US interest rates and an absence of Chinese property developers, according to a report from Sustainable Fitch, reports the South China Morning Post. But green bonds are becoming increasingly popular among mainland Chinese firms to meet rising demand for financing of transition projects.
Offshore green bond issuances in China fell 36% last year to just over $10 billion after declining 21% in 2022, reaching half the level in 2021, according to the sustainable finance research unit of the credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings.
Chinese property developers missing from the bond market contributed to the decline in offshore green bond issuance, according to the report. The developers accounted for only 4% of offshore green bonds in 2023, compared with a 40% share of overall offshore issuance in 2021.