Debt market lawyers from Haiwen, Linklaters and Sidley Austin have helped the Ministry of Finance to launch its public offering and institutional placement of RMB-denominated bonds in an aggregate principal amount of US$878m.

Participating in the third RMB bond offering this year, Sidley Austin was the advisor to the Ministry of Finance on this transaction. Sidley has represented five of the seven issuers, also advising bond offerings by The Bank of East Asia (China) and China Development Bank Corporation, earlier this year. The firm has been the PRC government’s legal adviser on all of its international debt offerings since 1994.

The transaction marks the very first RMB bonds offering overseas by the PRC central government. Selling RMB bonds is part of the government’s effort to help China’s currency go international and develop the RMB bond market in Hong Kong. The bonds will also strengthen financial cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong, marking a new milestone for the development of RMB business in Hong Kong.

Five mainland banks (and two mainland banking subsidiaries of Hong Kong banks) have issued more than RMB30bn in RMB bonds since 2007, when the Chinese government permitted the issuance.

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