Issuance in the G3 bond market in Asia, outside of Japan and Australasia, has picked up in the first nine months of 2024, rising 30.5% to US$190.94 billion, compared with US$146.37 billion a year ago on the back of higher issuances out of China.

The volume of Chinese G3 bond deals during January-September 2024, figures supplied by LSEG show, amounted to US$58.05 billion, up from US$38.59 billion in the same period in 2023, as China reclaimed the top spot in the league table of the largest issuers in the region.

China’s issuances were highlighted by the return of the China Ministry of Finance ( MoF ) to the euro bond market in September when it priced a dual-tranche offering totalling €2 billion ( US$2.22 billion ), following the announcement of a slew of stimulus measures to boost the economy. The deal garnered strong demand amounting to €15.6 billion from a group of high-quality institutional investors comprised of commercial and central banks, and sovereign wealth funds.

Another sizeable deal was printed in September by Chinese shopping platform Meituan, amounting to US$2.5 billion in two tranches – US$1.2 billion for 3.5 years and US$1.3 billion for five years.

Issuances from most other jurisdictions also posted higher volumes in the first nine months of 2024 from the year before. South Korea was the second-largest issuer with US$52.63 billion ( up 11.2% ), followed by Hong Kong with US$18.50 billion ( up 2.1% ); Indonesia, US$9.82 billion ( up 122.6% ); Singapore, US$9 billion ( up 27.1% ); the Philippines, US$7.87 billion ( up 160.9% ); and India, US$7.74 billion ( up 89.1% ).

The increment comes as the issuance of G3 high-yield bonds also exhibited an increase in the first nine months of the year to US$9.48 billion, from US$2.66 billion in January-September 2023, dominated by offerings out of India, which accounted for US$4.38 billion from 12 deals. The volume out of India represented a more than four-fold increase from US$847.53 million in the first nine months of 2023, with Shriram Finance tapping the market twice totalling US$1.25 billion.

Other Indian high-yield issuances included those of Vedanta Resources, amounting to US$900 million; IRB Infrastructure Developers, US$540 million; Indiabulls Housing Finance, US$350 million; SAEL, US$305 million; and Manappuram Finance, US$300 million

High-yield bonds out of Hong Kong amounted to US$1.68 billion from four deals, or more than double the US$680.43 million volume in 2023, while those from China amounted to US$1.44 billion, also from four deals, up from only US$300 million on a single deal in January-September 2023.

ESG debt

In line with the bigger G3 bond volume, the issuance of environmental, social and governance ( ESG )-related bonds – green, social, sustainability, sustainability-linked and blue – in Asia, outside of Japan and Australasia, also manifested an increase to US$45.20 billion in the first nine months of 2024, compared with US$38.33 billion in the same period the year before. This is the second-highest volume since 2016, according to LSEG, next only to US$57.64 billion recorded in January-September 2021.

China was the biggest issuer, LSEG data show, with a total volume of US$20.28 billion, which was more than twice the US$8.73 billion posted a year earlier, with issuances led by banks and other financial institutions.

South Korea came next with US$11.34 billion, down 30.6% from US$16.33 billion in January-September 2023. Several South Korean banks issued social bonds, including those of Industrial Bank of Korea, which amounted to US$800 million; NongHyup Bank, US$600 million; and Shinhan Bank, US$500 million.

India followed suit with a volume of US$4.35 billion ( up 103% ), with issuances coming from Shriram Finance, Indiabulls Housing Finance and SAEL, among others. ESG-related bond deals out of the Philippines also rose from US$1.35 billion to US$4.21 billion during the period, with the sovereign issuing two 25-year sustainability bonds – US$1 billion in May and US$900 million in August.

Syndicated loans

In contrast with the recovery in the issuance in the G3 bond market, fund raising in the syndicated loan market in Asia, outside of Japan and Australasia, fell to US$305.53 billion in the first nine months of 2024, from US$406.72 billion in the same period of 2023.

Chinese borrowers dominated the league table with a total volume of US$113.35 billion, or a decline of 33.7% from US$171.08 billion in the first nine months of 2023. Most of the other major loan syndication markets followed the downtrend, with Hong Kong suffering a drop of 5.4% to US$57.93 billion; Taiwan, US$30.01 billion ( down 21.1% ); India, US$20.55 billion ( down 30.7% ); and Indonesia, US$7.94 billion ( down 72.7% ).

Only Singapore bucked the downtrend among the major loan syndication markets and recorded a higher loan volume of US$59.44 billion in the first nine months of 2024, compared with US$49.50 billion a year earlier.

Meanwhile, ESG-related syndicated loans, including green and sustainability-linked loans, exhibited a continuing uptrend during the nine-month period since 2018, rising 8.6% to US$69.42 billion in January-September 2024 from US$63.95 billion in the comparable period the year before.

Singapore, based on LSEG figures, was the biggest market for ESG-related syndicated loans with a total volume of US$28.02 billion, up 30.6% from US$21.45 billion in January-September 2023. It was followed by Hong Kong with US$16.33 billion ( up 58.1% ); Taiwan, US$14.16 billion ( down 35.5% ); India, US$3.46 billion ( up 177.1% ); Malaysia, US$2.19 billion ( up 138.1% ); and China, US$2.16 billion ( up 13.3% ).