中國企業加大海外債券發行

Chinese companies’ near-record offshore borrowing in May was partially the result of Beijing’s efforts to support the weakening renminbi, according to bankers.

銀行家表示，今年5月中國企業接近創紀錄水平的離岸發債規模，在一定程度上是中國政府支撐走弱的人民幣的結果。

Mainland groups issued $19.2bn of bonds in international markets — the third-highest month on record, according to Dealogic data — even as they spurned local markets in a dramatic switch from their behaviour since last August when China stunned global markets by devaluing the renminbi.

中國內地企業在國際市場發行了192億美元的債券——Dealogic的數據顯示，這是有記錄以來第三高的月度水平——它們已經明顯改變了去年8月以來的做法，不再熱衷於在國內市場發行債券。去年8月，中國下調人民幣匯率，讓全球市場感到震驚。

Leading the charge have been state-backed groups including China Development Bank, China Huarong Asset Management and State Grid, which between them issued bonds worth $7.3bn in dollars and euros in May.

打頭陣的是國有集團，包括中國國家開發銀行(China Development Bank)、中國華融資產管理公司(China Huarong Asset Management)和國家電網(State Grid)。這些企業在今年5月總計發行了價值73億美元的美元和歐元計價債券。

Borrowing overseas and remitting the proceeds back home helps to bolster the renminbi — reversing the debt market trend since last August whereby Chinese groups had been borrowing at home to pay down foreign debt in an attempt to reduce the rising debt burden produced by a weakening currency.

在海外發債並將資金匯回國內有助於支撐人民幣，逆轉自去年8月以來的債券市場趨勢，即中國企業在國內借債以償還外國債務，努力減輕人民幣走低加劇的債務負擔。

One banker in Hong Kong described the pressure this month from the authorities to borrow overseas rather than domestically as “a lot more than just a nudge”.

香港的一名銀行家認爲，當局這個月施加的、要求企業去海外而非在國內借債的壓力，“絕不只是簡單的示意”。

Foreign deals made up almost two-fifths of Chinese companies’ total bond issuance in May, up from less than a tenth on average since last August. Before the devaluation, international deals made up roughly a fifth.

海外發債佔到今年5月中國企業債券發行總額的近五分之二，而去年8月以來的平均佔比不到十分之一。在人民幣貶值前，海外發債的佔比大約爲五分之一。

The shift in emphasis underlines the tensions between China’s desire for investment overseas and its need to control the use of its foreign exchange reserves.

這種轉變突顯出中國的矛盾，一方面，中國希望在海外投資，另一方面又不得不控制其外匯儲備的使用。

The overseas branches of China’s biggest banks have also been active borrowers in the offshore markets as part of their efforts to help Chinese companies’ push overseas, as well as remitting funds to the mainland.

中國最大幾家銀行的海外分支也是離岸市場的積極發債者，它們藉此幫助中資企業海外擴張，同時將資金匯回內地。

“For the majority of corporates who want to invest offshore, their source of funding must be coming from offshore,” said Zhiming Zhang, head of China research at HSBC. “The perception of any slowdown in ODI [overseas direct investment] looks bad [to China] but they don’t want to do that, at the expense of their reserves.”

匯豐(HSBC)中國研究部主管張之明表示：“對絕大多數希望投資海外的企業來說，它們的資金必須來自海外。看到海外直接投資有任何放緩（對中國來說）都很糟糕，但他們不希望犧牲外匯儲備來進行海外投資。”

ICBC, Agricultural Bank of China and China Construction Bank raised $4.8bn between them for branches in New York, Singapore and, in CCB’s case, its international leasing business.

中國工商銀行(ICBC)、中國農業銀行(ABC)和中國建設銀行(CCB)總計爲其在紐約和新加坡的分支機構（建行則是爲國際租賃業務）籌集了48億美元資金。

China’s onshore bond markets have also been unsettled by a rise in bond yields after defaults by state-owned groups in April unnerved investors — potentially prompting a move overseas.

中國在岸債券市場也因債券收益率上升而出現波動——今年4月，中國國有企業的違約讓投資者感到不安——這潛在推動了海外債券發行。

“More volatility onshore is certainly one reason why we are seeing more issuance offshore,” said Ashish Malhotra, global head of bond syndicate at Standard Chartered. “In June all issuance is likely to slow with the Brexit vote and the Fed meeting — a lot of issuers have wanted to get ahead of all that.”

渣打銀行(Standard Chartered)債券辛迪加全球主管阿希什•馬爾霍特拉(Ashish Malhotra)表示：“國內市場波動加劇當然是海外發行增加的一個原因。今年6月，由於英國將舉行脫歐公投，而美聯儲(Fed)將舉行議息會議，所有發行都可能放緩——許多發行方希望搶在這一切之前發行債券。”

May is typically a busy month for debt deals worldwide as companies race to beat a US deadline that prevents them from basing offerings on accounts that are more than 135 days old.

對世界各地的債券發行來說，5月通常是一個忙碌的月份，因爲各公司競相趕在一項美國規定的最後期限之前發行債券，該規定要求發行日距離發行債券所基於的財務報告的日期不得超過135天。