Hong Kong’s offshore yuan bonds are likely to have a record year, according to Bloomberg data.
Corporate issuers have already raised a record $46.2 billion this year. Deutsche Bank estimates that the annual issuance of dim sum bonds will triple between 2022 and 2024, reaching 1.4 trillion yuan (about $196.5 billion) in 2024. Observers expected this number to be higher this year.
Indications are that Chinese tech giants are also considering issuing their own debt. For example, Baidu, the mainland’s largest search engine, said in early September that it would issue 4.4 billion yuan of such bonds after a 10 billion yuan sale in March. Likewise, companies such as Tencent Holdings and Meituan are reportedly considering issuing debt securities, although neither company has done so in four years, local media reported.
Dim sum bonds are yuan-denominated debt issued outside mainland China. Since its first introduction, it has gone from marginal financing to become a major means of achieving Beijing’s longstanding goal of internationalizing the yuan. Current interest in these bonds points to cost advantages for issuers due to favorable interest rates and structural reforms that have helped expand the investor base. This aligns with the city’s goal of becoming a fundraising hub that goes beyond just stocks, SCMP reported in mid-September.
Global demand from investors, the desire to diversify portfolios away from the US dollar, and the southward linkage mechanism with the mainland have led to increased liquidity and attractive funding in the offshore dim sum bond market. Last July, the region expanded access to Bond Connect to include wealth managers, securities firms and insurance companies.
In fact, the offshore RMB bond market has been very crowded in 2025, with annual issuances to date reaching RMB525 billion – up 8% year-on-year.
Overseas yuan financing is cheaper than dollar bonds despite a quarter-percentage point interest rate cut in mid-September by the US Federal Reserve, with signs of more to come. Deutsche Bank research indicated that dim sum issuers saved up to 40 basis points by raising the yuan offshore and exchanging it for US dollars in some cases. The German lender said the dipped-value bond market has room to grow and could reach 1.6 trillion yuan next year.
