Offshore financial institutions now more hopeful of access to China’s bond futures

Market observers are hopeful offshore financial institutions will soon be granted access to China’s bond futures market, a move that would see liquidity in the hemmed off market increase dramatically.

This expectation comes off the back of the Chinese government’s recent measure to further open up the country’s market for bond futures, which are contracts for future delivery of a bond instrument.

On February 21, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission CBIRC, announced it would allow local insurers and banks to trade Chinese government bond futures. Initially, five Chinese state-owned banks will trade Chinese government bond futures on a trial basis, namely Bank of China,...