PBOC urges enterprises in pilot regions to issue 'green bonds'

Chinese central bank encouraged companies in pilot regions to issue "green bonds" and accelerate infrastructure construction, it said in a statement on Monday.

Non-financial enterprises in some selected green finance reform pilot areas, including Hangzhou in Zhejiang province and Nanchang in Jiangxi province, will enjoy easier procedure if they apply to issue bonds, especially for energy conservation and environment protection, pollution prevention, resource saving and recycling projects, the statement said.

The bonds will be traded in the interbank market. And the issuers will especially be urban infrastructure construction companies.

The bonds, or other kinds of debt financing instruments, could be used for supporting the companies' business development related by the "green" industries generally, and there will be no requirement to be used for specified projects, according to the People's Bank of China, the central bank.

Other debt financing instruments include targeted tools, such as the private equity fund, and asset backed securities, it said.

The instruments should be separated from governments' debt, which are not backed by the governments' guarantee and to avoid increasing the local governments' contingent liabilities, according to the PBOC.