China Railway Ministry issues RMB 45 bln bonds

China's Ministry of Railway started issuing new batch of fixed-rate corporate bonds, totaling RMB 45 billion, from Nov. 28 to Dec. 4 this year, which was RMB 10 million more than the proposed RMB 35 billion due to the surging demand in railway construction.

The bonds include RMB 9 billion of 7-year bonds, RMB 26 billion of 10-year bonds and RMB 10 billion of 15-year bonds with annual yield rate of 5.38%, 5.6% and 5.75% respectively.

The bonds were priced on Tuesday, based on the average 1-year Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate (Shibor) of 4.41% prior to 5 days.

The Ministry has issued totally 14 batches of corporate bonds so far, amounting to RMB 113.7 billion. The bonds will fund the construction of 21 railway projects and purchase of new trains, to meet the target of China's eleventh 5-year plan (2006-1010).