China will further improve policy arrangements for panda bonds to facilitate more issuance and trading by overseas institutions, including sovereign states, according to the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank.
Panda bonds are renminbi- denominated bonds issued by overseas institutions in China's onshore market.
Record sovereign panda bond issuances in recent times have underscored growing global demand for renminbi financing. Several sovereign issuers, including the governments of Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Pakistan, as well as Kazakhstan's sovereign wealth fund, made their debut in China's panda bond market this year, raising 19.15 billion yuan ($2.83 billion) in total.
The fundraising marked the largest annual sovereign panda bond issuance on record, far surpassing the previous full-year high of 7 billion yuan set in 2025.
In a written interview with China Daily, the Financial Market Department of the PBOC attributed the surge in issuances to China's well-functioning, open and inclusive bond market, as well as the growing financing-cost advantages of panda bonds and continuous policy improvements.
