China Development Bank (CDB) announced here Monday the subscription for its 5-billion-renminbi bonds launched from July 27 was closed with complete success, reflecting strong response from both retail and institutional investors.

Total subscription amount exceeded 14 billion yuan (US$1.8 billion), equivalent to near three times of the total issue size. The issuer has determined to issue 2.5 billion yuan, respectively, to both retail and institutional tranches.

Subscriptions for both retail and institutional bond offerings were closed on July 6. During the subscription period, the retail tranche has attracted more than 60,000 applications and the total subscription amount exceeded 7 billion yuan. And the institutional tranche has also attracted more than 7 billion yuan.

Chen Yuan, governor of CDB, said that the success of the RMB bond issuance in Hong Kong demonstrated the continuing great confidence of local investors in China's economic development. At the same time, it also showed the full recognition of CDB's credit and business performance by the Hong Kong market.

He said that the funds raised from this bond issuance will be used to finance China's fundamental key infrastructure projects.

"The encouraging subscription result of CDB's renminbi bonds highlights the strong demand of investors in Hong Kong for renminbi-denominated investment instruments, including high-quality renminbi bonds," said Joseph Yam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

"The success of the first issue of renminbi bonds forms a good basis for the further development of the renminbi bond market in Hong Kong. It has also opened up a new channel for financial intermediation between Hong Kong and the Mainland," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 9 2007)