Offshore holdings of Chinese bonds edge up last month

Foreign investors were net buyers of Chinese government bonds in March, new data showed on Thursday, but they added to their holdings at the slowest pace in more than a year as pandemic-driven panic prompted a global flight to liquidity.

Offshore investors held Chinese government bonds worth a total of 1.34 trillion yuan ($189.44 billion) at the end of March, according to data from China Central Depository and Clearing Co (CCDC), the country's primary interbank bond market clearing house.

While a 12th consecutive monthly record high, such holdings rose only 0.15% from a month earlier, the slowest pace of growth since February 2019.

Offshore holdings of all policy bank bonds rose 1.14% to a record 542.5 billion yuan, the data showed, although foreigners were net sellers of highly liquid bonds issued by China Development Bank.

Total foreign holdings of bonds cleared through CCDC rose by 0.32% to 1.96 trillion yuan, also a record.

The small increase in offshore holdings belies a frenzy of trading activity. Data released Wednesday showed that offshore investors traded record volumes of bonds in March through China's Bond Connect programme. Market sources had reported some net selling of government and policy bank bonds in recent weeks as global investors rushed for dollar liquidity.

Market volatility has prompted global index providers to delay the inclusion of Chinese bonds and stocks into their benchmarks. Additional holdings data from Shanghai Clearing House was not yet available on Thursday. Bonds cleared there have accounted for about 15% of total foreign holdings in recent months.