Poland to issue $455m panda bonds in China

A Chinese clerk counts RMB (renminbi) yuan banknotes at a bank in Huaibei city, East China's Anhui province, Aug 11, 2015. [Photo/IC]

Bank of China (BOC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on panda bonds issuance with Poland's Ministry of Finance, China News Service said on Tuesday.

It is the first yuan-denominated national debt issued by the Polish government and Poland is the first European sovereign government to issue such bonds.

According to China News Service, the Polish government will issue 3 billion yuan ($455.55 million) worth of panda bonds in three years in Chinese mainland, and Bank of China will be its leading underwriter.

The panda bonds will push forward China-Poland bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade and financial, the Bank of China said.

Panda bonds are yuan-denominated debts sold by foreign countries and overseas agencies in China. Since their first launch in 2005, more than 30 billion yuan worth of panda bonds have been issued from 2005 to 2016, according to data provider Dealogic.

According to the World Bank's International Finance Corp, the panda bond market is expected to surpass 320 billion yuan in the next five years.