China Green Bond Market 2018
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CHINA GREEN BOND MARKET 2018 A USD42.8bn Chinese green bond market Published jointly by the Climate Bonds Initiative and China Central Depository & Clearing Company (CCDC). GOLD PARTNER Funding for this publication was provided under a grant from the UK Government under its Partnering for ChinaAccelerated Green Climate Bond Transitions Market Programme 2018 Climate (PACT) andBonds HSBC Initiative as a supporting organisation. 1 Introduction Contents 3 Executive summary China has remained one of the leading players in the global green 4 China’s green bond market in 2018 bond market, with a higher proportion of overall labelled Chinese green bond issuance aligned to international definitions. Chinese 16 Green bond policy development issuance in 2018 topped USD30bn, and Industrial Bank became 17 Trends to watch in 2019 the second largest issuer globally with USD9.6bn. Regulators continued to improve market integrity through a series of 18 Appendix measures and to stimulate market growth through policy tools. This is our third China Green Bond Market annual report, in Climate Bonds Initiative association with China Central Depository & Clearing Company (CCDC). This report summarises the major developments The Climate Bonds Initiative is an that have taken place during 2018 focusing on issuance, policy international investor-focused not for development and wider market growth. profit organisation working to mobilise the USD100tn bond market for climate change Funding for this publication was provided under a grant from the UK solutions. The mission is to help drive down Government under its Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions the cost of capital for large-scale climate Programme (PACT) and HSBC as a supporting organisation. and infrastructure projects and to support governments seeking increased capital markets investment to meet climate goals. The Climate Bonds Initiative carries out Understanding green bonds market analysis, policy research and market development; advises governments and Green bonds are issued in order to raise is not included from the database. The regulators; and administers a global green finance for climate change solutions. They same applies if more than 5% of proceeds bond certification scheme. can be issued by governments, banks, are expected to be used for general Climate Bonds Partners range from investors municipalities or corporations. The green corporate purposes, working capital, social representing USD14tn of assets under bond label can be applied to any debt assets or projects or assets that do not management and the world’s leading format, including private placement, loan, align to the Climate Bonds Taxonomy. investment banks to governments like securitisation and sukuk. Labelled green Lack of sufficient information to determine Switzerland and France. loans are an option if they comply with the the alignment of use of proceeds also ICMA Green Bond Principles1 or the LMA/ The Climate Bonds Initiative is the lead results in exclusion. APLMA Green Loan Principles.2 The key is partner in the Green Infrastructure for the proceeds to go to “green” assets. Certified Climate Bonds Investment Coalition. Sean Kidney, Climate Bonds Initiative’s CEO, is a member of the Green definitions Climate Bonds Initiative administers the European Commission’s Technical Expert Climate Bonds Certification Scheme. The Climate Bonds Initiative uses the Group on Sustainable Finance. Issuers can certify their green issuance Climate Bonds Taxonomy, which features under the Climate Bonds Standard and eight sectors - energy, buildings, transport, Sector Criteria. Independent approved water, waste, land use, industry and ICT - verifiers provide a third party assessment All figures are rounded in this report. and various subsectors (see Appendix 3). that the use of proceeds complies with the Exchange rates may vary throughout the Climate Bonds Initiative also develops objective of capping global warming at 2°C. report: the actual exchange rate on each Sector Criteria with expert input from bond’s issuance date is reflected. the international science community and Climate-aligned bonds industry professionals. Sector Criteria Data sources for this report include WIND, The term refers to bonds that are financing are used under the Climate Bonds Refinitiv Eikon and Bloomberg, as well as green/climate assets that help enable a low- Certification Scheme (see below). bond prospectuses and company websites. carbon economy but have not been labelled Inclusion in CBI's green bond database as green by the issuing entity. Figures in this report refer to both onshore and offshore green bonds issued by entities Only bonds with 95% or more of Climate-aligned bonds go beyond the domiciled in mainland China. Internationally proceeds dedicated to green assets or green label and indicates a much larger aligned green bonds are those aligned with projects, that are aligned with the Climate set of bonds issued by entities who have both local and international definitions. Bonds Taxonomy, are included in CBI's at least 75% of revenue derived from green bond database and figures. These ‘green’ business lines in at least one of 6 Green panda bonds are stated separately. bonds are referred as internationally- climate themes: clean energy, low-carbon A summary of the Hong Kong green bond aligned green bonds in this report. transport, water management, low- market can be found on p.14. Climate carbon buildings, waste management and Excluded green bonds Bonds prepared a green bond market sustainable land use. briefing, which provides more details about If the bond’s use of proceeds is not aligned the market and was supported by the Hong to the Climate Bonds Taxonomy, the bond Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). China Green Bond Market 2018 Climate Bonds Initiative 2 Executive summary: A year of significant growth Despite the bumpy debt market conditions in According to Dr. Ma Jun, Chairman of China’s by number of bonds or 93% by value. 2018, the green bond market in China forged Green Finance Committee, there were 120 Financial corporates provide frequent ahead steadily. Internationally-aligned policy measures rolled out by the central reporting, in line with PBoC requirements. green bond issuance from China reached and sub-national governments to bolster This report goes beyond the labelled green USD31.2bn (CNY210.3bn) in 2018. This the development of China’s green bond bond market and identifies a broader universe figure includes USD30.9bn (CNY208.9bn) market in 2018 alone. Policy support spans of bonds in China that are financing green/ issued by Chinese issuers on both domestic measures for both the supply (issuers) and climate assets, but have not been labelled and overseas markets, and USD208m demand (investors) side of the market. This as green. China is the largest climate aligned (CNY1.4bn) green panda bonds issued by demonstrates the commitment of Chinese bond market globally. There was USD289bn Hong Kong issuers. In addition, there was a policymakers to transforming the market into outstanding on bonds from China-domiciled CNY122m (USD17.7m) green loan aligned to a full-fledged green finance system. climate-aligned issuers as of mid-2018, and the LMA/APLMA Green Loan Principles. This report also sheds light on the a further USD4.3bn from Hong Kong issuers. Internationally-aligned green bonds from post-issuance reporting of green bonds, They present green bond issuance potential Chinese issuers account for 18% of global which are aligned with international green in the transport, energy and water sectors. issuance. 2018 issuance represents a 33% definitions.The majority of Chinese issuers With significant volumes maturing in the next increase from the USD23.5bn (CNY157.8bn) provided some degree of public information 5 years, there is an immediate opportunity for reached in 2017. If bonds that align only after issuance, with 85% of bonds complying labelling the unlabelled climate bonds. with China’s local definitions are factored in, total issuance in 2018 reached USD42.8bn Onshore, offshore and green panda bonds (CNY282.6bn), representing a 12% increase year-on-year. Green Panda Bond 1% Shenzhen 1% The proportion of green bonds that are in line with international green bond definitions has increased. In 2017, 38% of Chinese issuance failed to meet the Shanghai international standards, which exclude coal 15% and other fossil fuel-based technologies and limit the use of proceeds for working capital Offshore Onshore % of the total to 5%. In 2018, that figure fell to 26%. 23% 76% There is also a significant improvement in the transparency of Chinese green bonds, especially on the domestic market. Interbank Market Nearly three quarters of domestic green 60% bonds are issued on the China interbank bond market (CIBM). Overseen by PBoC, * by amount issued CIBM is used primarily by commercial banks and other financial institutions. In contrast, China accounts 18% of global issuance the markets on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges feature green ABS and 180 green bonds issued by listed and non-listed 160 corporates. USD6.2bn (CNY42.3bn) worth of green bonds are listed on Shanghai Stock 140 Exchange. 120 Fourteen issuers raised a total of USD9.5bn 100 through offshore green bonds. Both the number of deals and the volume issued 80 increased in 2018. The largest overseas deal 60 is ICBC’s USD1.58bn Certified Climate Bond, arranged by its London branch. The proceeds 40 will finance onshore wind and solar farms in different provinces in China and in Pakistan, 20 and an offshore wind farm in Scotland. in USD bn Amount issued 0 Ever since People’s Bank of China (PBoC) 2015 2016 2017 2018 released its green bond guidelines in 2015 to help launch the country’s green bond market, Other countries issuance (aligned with international definitions) the Chinese government and financial regulators have been stepping up efforts to China’s issuance (aligned with both Chinese and international definitions) encourage green bond issuance and support China’s issuance (aligned with Chinese definitions only) market integrity through a raft of policies.