The Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China (the “MOF”), representing the Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China, successfully issued €2 billion sovereign bonds (the “Bonds”) in Paris, France on September 25, 2024. Fangda Partners acted as the PRC legal counsel to the Joint Lead Managers in issuance of the Bonds. The Bonds included €1.25 billion 3-year bonds and €750 million 7-year bonds, with a total subscription amount of €16.2 billion, 8.1 times the issuance size. The Bonds will be listed on both the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Euronext Paris.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. The Bonds is the second Chinese sovereign bond to be priced in France and listed on the Euronext Paris since 2019 and will also be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this time. Moreover, the Bonds is the first foreign currency-denominated sovereign bond issued by the MOF after 2021.

The Joint Lead Managers for the Bonds included Bank of China Limited, Bank of Communications Co., Ltd. Hong Kong Branch, Agricultural Bank of China Limited Hong Kong Branch, Merrill Lynch (Asia Pacific) Limited, China Construction Bank (Asia) Corporation Limited, China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Securities Limited, Citigroup Global Markets Limited, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch, Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C., The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, ICBC International Securities Limited, J.P. Morgan Securities plc, Société Générale, Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, and UBS AG Hong Kong Branch.

Since 2015, Fangda Partners has been the only PRC legal team involved in the MOF’s sovereign bond projects, providing professional, high-quality and efficient legal services for sovereign bond issuances by the MOF to international investors for years.

The Fangda team for this project was led by partners JIANG Xueyan and HUO Wanhua. Key team members included HU Yanhui and Ellyn AI.