An initial Chaori post-mortem

It's a question many onshore investors are asking, not least those holding some of the Rmb1 billion bonds issued by solar panel maker Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy Science and Technology, which last week made history by defaulting on an interest payment.

So far the rest of the onshore market has taken that news calmly. Weekly Chinese corporate bond issuance last week even hit a two-month high of Rmb10.8 billion $1.7 billion, although a few lower-rated firms did delay their planned debt offerings in the immediate...