Report Information - Report Title: Credit Investment Methodology Series IV: The Logic of Credit Bond Supply and Its Significance for Credit Strategies [3] - Report Date: July 29, 2025 [2] - Analysts: Liu Lu, Zhang Junrui [3] Industry Investment Rating - Not provided in the given content Core Viewpoints - Credit bond supply is mainly influenced by corporate debt - financing demand, loan - bond spread, and regulatory policy differences between bond and loan financing. Credit bond supply has obvious seasonality and its quantity - price relationship is complex, with significant implications for credit strategies [8][9]. - In normal times, price dominates quantity, but major regulatory policy changes can lead to supply changes that dominate yield and credit spread trends. This year, H2 regulatory policies are favorable for credit bond supply but unfavorable for urban investment bond supply, potentially widening credit spreads and making urban investment bonds outperform industrial bonds [9]. Summary by Related Catalogs Factors Affecting Credit Bond Supply - Corporate Debt - Financing Demand: Credit bonds are a form of corporate debt financing, and corporate debt - financing growth is a leading indicator of economic growth, leading GDP growth and corporate employment demand by about 9 months. The balance growth rates of loans and credit bonds have correlation coefficients of 0.71 and 0.86 with corporate debt - financing balance growth, respectively [8][11]. - Loan - Bond Spread: Credit bond net financing is positively correlated with the loan - bond spread (general loan rate - 3YAA medium - term note rate). Since Q2 2011, the correlation coefficients between the year - on - year change of the loan - bond spread and the year - on - year change of credit bond net financing, industrial bond net financing, and urban investment bond net financing are 0.48, 0.55, and 0.07 respectively; since 2021, they are 0.72, 0.91, and - 0.34 respectively [12]. - Regulatory Policy Differences: When credit bond financing regulatory policies are relaxed or loan financing regulatory policies are tightened, companies will issue more credit bonds. For example, in 2012, the tightening of urban investment loans and the relaxation of urban investment bond review led to an increase in the ratio of new credit bonds to new loans [8][18]. - Seasonality: Quarterly, credit bond net financing decreases quarter by quarter. From 2019 - 2024, the median proportion of quarterly credit bond net financing to annual net financing is 40%, 23%, 19%, and 7% respectively. Monthly, due to bond issuance review requirements for financial reports and the end - of - quarter loan impulse, April has a significantly higher credit bond financing proportion than corporate loan financing, while May, September, and December have significantly lower credit bond financing proportions [8][20][27]. Relationship between Credit Bond Quantity and Price - Normal Relationship: Credit bond yield is negatively correlated with credit bond net financing. Rolling 12 - month credit bond net financing and credit bond interest rates are mostly negatively correlated, and since 2020, interest rates have a certain leading nature. Credit spread is negatively correlated with the ratio of credit bond net financing to government bond net financing, with the former leading the latter by about 3 months. After removing the linear trend, the correlation coefficient between the 3 - month leading credit spread and the ratio of credit bond net financing to government bond net financing since 2019 is - 0.39, and since November 2022, it has reached - 0.51 [31][32]. - Reverse Influence: When regulatory policies are strong, credit bond supply can affect spreads. For example, from February - June 2020, increased credit bond supply led to wider credit spreads the next month. Since 2021, regulatory policies have restricted urban investment bond issuance, narrowing the urban investment - industrial spread and urban investment bond rating spread [33]. Implications for Credit Strategies - Policy Focus: Analyze regulatory policy - driven credit bond supply changes. This year, H2 regulatory policies are favorable for credit bond supply but unfavorable for urban investment bond supply, so credit spreads may widen, and urban investment bonds may outperform industrial bonds [9][41]. - Supply Analysis: This year, H2 regulatory policies are favorable for corporate bond issuance, while urban investment bond financing regulatory policies may tighten. Government bond net financing is expected to decrease by 1.9 trillion yuan compared to H2 2024, while credit bond net financing may increase year - on - year [44][45].