Chinese companies struggling to get their money out of the country have come up with an alternative: raise money overseas. Chinese firms have issued some $52.6 billion worth of U.S. dollar bonds in the first quarter, up 72% from the previous three months, according to Dealogic, and nearly five times the amount from the first quarter of 2016.
The surge has come as Beijing has tightened curbs on capital outflows, making it harder for Chinese companies to use their yuan earned domestically overseas. Those companies looking to make acquisitions abroad, or even just pay back existing dollar debt, are increasingly turning to the U.S. dollar markets to raise funds.
“If a company is considering an overseas acquisition and looking for financing, even if it is sitting on billions of [yuan] onshore, it may struggle to transfer [that money] offshore to pay for it,” said David Yim, head of debt capital markets for Greater China at Standard Chartered in Hong Kong.
Source:https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-chinese-companies-if-you-cant-move-money-overseas-raise-it-overseas-1491048003