China inspects corporate bonds to prevent risks

2019-02-14
CGTN

China launched a countrywide inspection on enterprise bonds on the market, including the scale, liabilities, and conditions of issuers, according to a notice released on Feb 12 by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), who oversees bond insurance of major State-owned enterprises.

To avoid potential risks, local branches of NDRC on the provincial level will carry out an overall inspection on corporate bonds under duration, including the amount, size of liabilities, the use of proceeds, progress of funded projects, and the condition of mortgage assets, the notice said.

Beijing has launched a deleverage campaign since last year to reduce debt and avoid systemic risk, but it is also trying to support private companies which are under financial pressure.

Preventing and defusing financial risks have been regarded as one of the major tasks for China in the following years. A total of 3.5 trillion yuan ($517.4 billion) of China’s non-financial companies bonds will meet maturity in 2019, Bloomberg reported in December.