Agricultural Bank of China London Branch's first green bond listed on London Stock Exchange

The London branch of the Agricultural Bank of China launched its first green bond on the London Stock Exchange on Dec. 6. Zheng Zeguang, China's ambassador to the United Kingdom, attended the listing ceremony and delivered a speech.

The listed green bond is a three-year, $300 million floating-rate bond, and is the first green bond to be issued by the Agricultural Bank of China that is linked to the new benchmark interest rate, the secured overnight financing rate, which is also known as the SOFR.

Zheng Zeguang delivers a speech. (Photo courtesy of the organizer of the ceremony)

Zheng extended his warm congratulations on the listing and pointed out that it reflects the firm actions taken by the Chinese government and companies in promoting green and low-carbon development and combating climate change. Zheng said that since 2015, $12.2 billion of green bonds from Chinese banks have been listed on the London Stock Exchange and the number is expected to continue to grow. "I hope the two countries will work together to carry out more collaboration in green and low-carbon fields, so as to bring more benefits to people in both countries and also make a greater contribution to this global effort to combat climate change," he said.

Lin Li delivers a speech. (Photo courtesy of the organizer of the ceremony)

Lin Li, vice president of the Agricultural Bank of China, pointed out that with a focus on green and low-carbon development, the bank has introduced plans for green finance development and continuously improved a multi-level green investment and financing business system. As of the end of September, the total green credit balance of the Agricultural Bank of China had reached 3.8 trillion yuan, with green investments approaching 40 billion yuan, and ESG-themed wealth management products totaling approximately 50 billion yuan.

Tom Attenborough, head of international business development for primary markets at the London Stock Exchange, said the listing of the green bond strengthens the long-standing trusted cooperation between the London Stock Exchange and the Agricultural Bank of China, and he hopes that there will be additional future collaborations with other Chinese financial institutions to address global sustainable development challenges.