British gov't lists first RMB sovereign bond on LSE

LONDON - The British government on Tuesday listed its first Renminbi (RMB) denominated sovereign bond on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

Liu Xiaoming, Chinese ambassador to Britain, said the issuance marked a solid step in pushing forward the internationalization of the RMB.

On Oct 14, the British Treasury successfully issued a RMB sovereign bond with an amount of 3 billion RMB ($490 million) and a maturity period of three years. Britain has become the first western country to do so.

Liu said the issuance has great significance in three aspects. Firstly, it renewed the British government's commitment to making London a center of offshore RMB business. Secondly, it created a new milestone of RMB internationalization. Thirdly, it will provide a new driving force in promoting China-Britain economic cooperation.

Andrea Leadsom, Economic Secretary to British Treasury, said the idea behind the launch of a non-Chinese sovereign RMB bond is to promote liquidity of the market and encourage other issuers to join in and start developing the offshore RMB bond market.

She added that the RMB is going to be one the world's biggest foreign reserve currencies in the future, and that Britain wants to be the key part of that expansion.

According to a statement by the British Treasury last week, the order book on the day of bond issuance closed with 85 orders totaling 5.8 billion RMB. Bank of China, HSBC and Standard Chartered acted as joint lead managers of the issuance.

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