债券通八周年交出亮眼答卷

Core Insights - The Bond Connect "Northbound" trading volume reached 915.6 billion RMB in May 2025, with a daily average of 48.2 billion RMB, reflecting a 30-fold increase since its launch [1] - The Bond Connect has been a significant milestone in China's financial market opening, facilitating foreign investors' access to the Chinese bond market [2][3] - The total trading volume for the "Northbound" channel in the first five months of 2025 was 4.66 trillion RMB, indicating high market activity and increased foreign participation [3] Group 1: Development and Growth of Bond Connect - The Bond Connect was launched in July 2017, marking an important step in China's financial market opening, with the "Southbound" channel introduced in September 2021 and the "Swap Connect" in May 2023 [2] - As of May 2025, foreign institutions held 4.35 trillion RMB in interbank market bonds, accounting for 2.6% of the total custody volume [2] - The number of foreign institutional participants in the bond market has increased, with 1,169 entities entering the market by May 2025 [2] Group 2: Market Impact and Investor Participation - The Bond Connect has diversified the types of bonds that foreign investors are willing to invest in, expanding beyond traditional government and policy bank bonds to include credit bonds and asset-backed securities [3] - The introduction of the "Swap Connect" has further enhanced the ability of foreign investors to manage RMB interest rate risks, with over 12,000 transactions and a nominal principal amount of approximately 6.5 trillion RMB by April 2025 [7] - The ongoing optimization of the Bond Connect mechanism, including a 60% reduction in service fees, has made it more attractive for foreign investors [6] Group 3: Future Prospects and Recommendations - Experts suggest that expanding the "Southbound" channel to include non-bank financial institutions could enhance global asset allocation opportunities and stimulate innovation in financial products [10][11] - The Bond Connect is expected to continue to play a crucial role in increasing market liquidity and facilitating the internationalization of the RMB [5][9] - There is a call for further simplification of the bond settlement process to improve the efficiency of transactions for foreign investors [11]