China Green Bond Market Mid-Year Report 2018

The China Green Bond Market Mid-Year Report 2018 by the Climate Bonds Initiative analyzes the performance and alignment of Chinese green bonds from January to June 2018, highlighting a growth in issuance driven by the private sector and a continuing gap between domestic and international green bond definitions.

• Total green bond issuance from Chinese issuers in the first half of 2018 reached USD 13.02 billion (RMB 84.4 billion), representing a 14% increase year-on-year. Of this total, USD 9.29 billion (RMB 60.75 billion) aligned with international green bond definitions, meaning China accounted for 12% of the global aligned market during this period.
• The market was primarily driven by the private sector in H1 2018, with financial corporates accounting for 44% (USD 5.75 billion) and non-financial corporates contributing 32% of the total issuance. In contrast, issuance from policy banks dropped to approximately one-third of H1 2017 levels, with the only issuance coming from the Agricultural Development Bank of China.
• Over 40% of green bonds from Chinese domiciled issuers were issued overseas in H1 2018. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) was the largest offshore issuer, listing USD 2.3 billion in green bonds on the London and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges in June. Domestically, the interbank bond market remained the dominant venue, capturing 76% of issuance.
• Renewable energy was the largest sector for proceeds allocation in H1 2018, receiving USD 3.4 billion. Low carbon transport was the second largest category, featuring the first offshore green bond from a Chinese metro operator (Tianjin Rail Transit) and the first use of a land value capture model by a mainland Chinese metro operator (Nanjing Metro).
• The proportion of Chinese green bonds not aligned with international definitions rose to 28% in H1 2018. Nearly half of these exclusions were due to over 5% of proceeds being allocated to general working capital, which is permitted under National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) guidelines but not under tighter international definitions. Another 45% of exclusions were due to proceeds being allocated to areas recognized by local Chinese guidelines but not international ones.
• External reviews were utilized for 74% of H1 2018 issuance. This included 20% that were Certified Climate Bonds—notably ICBC London's USD 1.6 billion and Bank of China's USD 1 billion—and 54% that received a second party opinion or assurance.
• Several policy updates occurred in H1 2018: the People's Bank of China (PBoC) strengthened supervision of green bond allocations and expanded Medium Term Lending Facilitation (MLF) collateral to include green bonds and loans. Additionally, the Hong Kong SAR government announced a Green Bond Issuance Programme of up to HKD 100 billion.

APA

Climate Bonds Initiative (2018). China Green Bond Market Mid-Year Report 2018. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/China%202018%20H1%20Report_EN%20final%281%29.pdf

Chicago

Climate Bonds Initiative. China Green Bond Market Mid-Year Report 2018. 2018. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/China%202018%20H1%20Report_EN%20final%281%29.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Bonds Initiative |title=China Green Bond Market Mid-Year Report 2018 |date=July 2018 |url=https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/China%202018%20H1%20Report_EN%20final%281%29.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatebondsinitiative2018china, author = {{Climate Bonds Initiative}}, title = {{China Green Bond Market Mid-Year Report 2018}}, institution = {Climate Bonds Initiative}, year = {2018}, month = jul, url = {https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/China%202018%20H1%20Report_EN%20final%281%29.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }