China to Allow Foreign Investment in Treasury BondsThe Chinese government will internationalize the country's treasury bond market by selectively allowing some foreign financial insitutions to underwrite treasury bonds, a government official said Thursday.Xia Zhihua, deputy director of the State Debts and Finance Department under the Ministry of Finance, made the remarks at the China Financial Industry Reforms International Summit 2000 held in Beijng on May 18. He said that the process of opening the treasury bond market will take time and depend on the government's macro-economic plan and the maturity of the treasury bond market. The Ministry of Finance has selected a group of Chinese financial institutions as designated underwriters of treasury bonds since the beginning of the year. Xia said that this move is designed to increase the efficiency of issuing treasury bonds. The Chinese government is asking the legislature to approve only the budget deficit or balance of debts rather than the quota of treasury bond issuance every year, according to Xia. He said that China will launch over-the-counter trade of treasury bonds for corporate investors in the second half of this year. The move is aimed to expand the size of the inter-bank market of treasury bonds. |
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