ZHESHANG SECURITIES·2025-07-24 13:02Report Industry Investment Rating No information provided in the content. Core Viewpoints - Recent listing and expansion of Sci - tech Bond ETFs have catalyzed the rush to buy Sci - tech bonds, with the constituent bonds of Sci - tech Bond ETFs performing prominently. The report outlines new changes in the Sci - tech bond market and analyzes investment opportunities brought by the issuance of Sci - tech Bond ETFs [4]. - Sci - tech bonds refer to bonds issued by enterprises in the science and technology innovation field with funds mainly used for science and technology innovation, including Sci - tech Notes and Science and Technology Innovation Corporate Bonds. The core contents of the policy include expanding the issuer scope, introducing incremental funds, and optimizing issuance and trading systems [4]. - Since its launch, the issuance scale of Sci - tech bonds has been increasing, mainly issued by state - owned and central enterprises. As of July 23, the issuance amounts of industrial, financial, and urban investment Sci - tech bonds this year were 600.9 billion, 34.5 billion, and 53.6 billion respectively [4]. - The current outstanding balance of Sci - tech bonds exceeds 2 trillion yuan, accounting for 7% of all credit bonds. Outstanding Sci - tech bonds are mainly of medium - to - high grades and within 3 - year terms, and are mostly distributed in traditional industries. Thanks to the issuance of Sci - tech Bond ETFs, the yields of constituent bonds are significantly lower than those of green bonds and ordinary bonds of the same issuer [4]. Summary by Directory What is a Sci - tech Bond? - Policy Changes: Since 2017, relevant policies on Sci - tech bonds have been continuously optimized. In 2025, with the breakthrough of AI technology, the support for Sci - tech bonds in the bond market has been deepened. Policies such as the innovation of the "technology board" in the bond market and the introduction of risk - sharing tools are expected to promote the expansion of Sci - tech bonds [10]. - "Five Articles" Policy Support: In March - April this year, the "Five Articles" financial policy was improved, which has a large support for Sci - tech bonds. Measures include optimizing the statistical system, financial institution division of labor, product service system, and encouraging bond market financing [16]. - Concept and Variety Analysis: Sci - tech bonds mainly include Sci - tech Notes and Science and Technology Innovation Corporate Bonds. They have similar definitions but differences in issuer identification, use of funds, etc. [20]. - Help for Private Enterprises: The launch of Sci - tech bonds aims to guide funds to the science and technology innovation field, helping private and small - and - medium - sized science and technology enterprises to finance. Currently, 90% of Sci - tech bonds are issued by central and state - owned enterprises, while private enterprises account for less than 10%. Central and state - owned enterprises issuing Sci - tech bonds are mainly from traditional industries, while private enterprises are from technology - based industries [28]. Primary Market: Significant Increase in Sci - tech Bond Supply - Continuous Expansion of Issuance Scale: Since its launch, the issuance scale of Sci - tech bonds has been increasing. From 2022 - 2024, the issuance scales were 243.2 billion, 743.4 billion, and 1178.3 billion respectively, with an average annual compound growth rate of 120%. As of July 23, 2025, the cumulative issuance was 2858.3 billion yuan [31]. - Recent Rush to Buy: Since March this year, with strong policy support, the market's enthusiasm for subscription has increased. After March 6, the spread between the coupon rate and the lower limit of the bid rate of Sci - tech bonds has been significantly compressed by 54bp [35]. - Issuer Perspective: Sci - tech bonds are mainly issued by state - owned and central enterprises, accounting for 55% and 40% respectively. Industrial issuers account for 88% of the issuance scale, while urban investment issuers account for only 10% [38]. - Industry Perspective: The issuers of Sci - tech bonds are mostly from traditional industries, with the construction and decoration industry having the largest issuance scale. The issuance scale of technology - based industries such as communication, electronics, and computer needs to be improved. The urban investment platforms with high issuance amounts are industrial investment platforms [44]. Secondary Market: Seize Investment Opportunities from the Expansion of Sci - tech Bond ETFs - Reasons for Institutional Buying: Institutions' core motives for allocating Sci - tech bonds include capital gain advantages due to the decline in yields of constituent bonds with the expansion of Sci - tech Bond ETFs, the expectation of regulatory optimization of investment - end assessment, and the potentially lower default risk of Sci - tech bonds compared to ordinary corporate credit bonds [51]. - Rapid Decline in Valuation: In early July, the first batch of 10 Sci - tech Bond ETFs were quickly approved and listed, and the concentrated position - building of funds significantly compressed the yields of constituent bonds. For example, the valuation of the Sci - tech Bond ETF constituent bonds of China Power Investment Ronghe Leasing Co., Ltd. is about 10bp lower than that of other bonds of the same issuer [57]. - Continuous Increase in Outstanding Balance: As of July 23, 2025, the outstanding balance of Sci - tech bonds accounts for 6.87% of all credit bonds, an increase of 1.5% compared to the beginning of the year [64]. - Characteristics of Outstanding Bonds: There are currently 2011 outstanding Sci - tech bonds with an amount of 205.25 billion yuan. In terms of implicit ratings, medium - to - high - grade bonds account for 93%. In terms of remaining terms, bonds with a remaining term of less than 3 years account for 74% [68]. - Valuation Distribution: Industrial Sci - tech bonds are mainly distributed in industries such as construction and decoration, coal, and public utilities. High - valuation Sci - tech bonds are mainly in industries such as basic chemicals, power equipment, and pharmaceutical biology. Urban investment Sci - tech bonds are mainly concentrated in a few provinces, and the valuation in some economically weaker provinces is relatively high [74]. - Bond Selection: When selecting bonds, it is recommended to focus on issuers with relatively high Sci - tech bond valuations. A list of state - owned and central enterprise industrial issuers, urban investment platforms, and financial enterprises with an implicit rating of not less than AA and an outstanding Sci - tech bond balance of not less than 1 billion yuan is provided [76]. How to View Sci - tech Bond ETFs? - Yield Comparison: Since the issuance of Sci - tech Bond ETFs, their average yield is about 0.1%, slightly higher than the 0.08% of credit bond ETFs. The annualized yield range of Sci - tech bonds is approximately 2.8% - 5.5%, while that of credit bond ETFs is 2.4% - 4.2%. The yield of "Fuguo CSI AAA Science and Technology Innovation Corporate Bond ETF" is 3bp higher than the Sci - tech bond index [78]. - Increased Trading Activity: After the launch of Sci - tech Bond ETFs, the constituent bonds have been in high demand, and both liquidity and market performance have significantly improved. In July, the number of transactions of constituent bonds of Sci - tech Bond ETFs doubled compared to June. The valuation decline of constituent bonds of different terms is more than 3bp, significantly higher than that of non - constituent bonds [87][84]. - Valuation Difference: For most issuers, the valuation of constituent bonds of Sci - tech Bond ETFs is significantly lower than that of ordinary bonds. It is recommended to pay attention to issuers whose constituent bond valuations have not been significantly compressed, as there may be room for further compression in the future [88][89].