CHINA GREEN BOND MARKET 2019 RESEARCH REPORT

The 'CHINA GREEN BOND MARKET 2019 RESEARCH REPORT', published by the Climate Bonds Initiative and CCDC Research, analyzes the growth, policy landscape, and alignment of China's green bond market in 2019. It highlights a significant increase in issuance, a shift toward non-financial corporate issuers, and the emergence of municipal green bonds, while noting persistent discrepancies between domestic and international green definitions.

• In 2019, the total amount of Chinese green bonds issued across domestic and overseas markets was USD 55.8bn (RMB 386.2bn), a 33% increase from the USD 42bn (RMB 282.6bn) issued in 2018. China was the largest global source of labelled green bonds in 2019.
• Non-Financial Corporates became the largest issuer type in 2019, surpassing Financial Corporates. Their issuance volume grew by 54% year-on-year, accounting for 37% of the total 2019 issuance volume.
• The report identifies a gap between Chinese domestic and international green bond guidelines. While international standards focus on climate change mitigation and adaptation, Chinese guidelines also emphasize pollution reduction, resource conservation, and ecological protection. Consequently, only USD 31.3bn (RMB 216.8bn) of Chinese green bonds were aligned with both Chinese and Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) definitions, while USD 24.5bn (RMB 169.4bn) aligned only with local definitions.
• Transport was the largest funding theme for bonds aligned with CBI definitions, increasing 11% to USD 11.2bn (RMB 78.1bn). Energy followed as the second largest theme, though its issuance volume remained nearly stagnant.
• The market saw the introduction of China's first municipal green bond, issued by the People’s Government of Jiangxi with RMB 300m allocated to two utility tunnel projects. This bond featured a 30-year tenor, the longest in the domestic market.
• Green asset-backed securities (ABS) experienced strong growth in 2019, with volumes increasing 3.5 times to USD 7.2bn (RMB 50.3bn). Public transport revenue receivables were the primary collateral type, representing 40% of all Chinese green ABS deals.
• Second-party Opinions (SPOs) became the most common type of external review in 2019, representing 38% of all external reviews by volume, overtaking green bond assurance.
• By the end of 2019, the total outstanding amount of China's domestic green bond market was USD 140bn (RMB 977.2bn). Approximately 88% of this total (USD 124bn) is set to mature within the next five years, indicating a high potential for refinancing.
• Chinese issuers brought four Certified Climate Bonds to market in 2019, totaling USD 3bn (RMB 21bn). Bank of China is the largest Chinese issuer of Certified Climate Bonds, with a cumulative total of USD 3.8bn.
• The report notes that a significant portion of non-aligned bonds are caused by the allocation of proceeds to general working capital. In 2019, over USD 17bn (RMB 117.6bn) of labelled green bonds allocated more than 5% of proceeds to general working capital, which exceeds the CBI threshold for alignment.

APA

Meng, A. X., Xie, W., Shao, H., Lau, I., Almeida, M., & Shang, J. (2020). CHINA GREEN BOND MARKET 2019 RESEARCH REPORT. Climate Bonds Initiative. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/China-Green-Bond-Market-2019-Research-Report_2025-02-17-163051_qijt.pdf

Chicago

Meng, Alan Xiangrui, Wenhong Xie, Huan Shao, Ivy Lau, Miguel Almeida, and Jin Shang. CHINA GREEN BOND MARKET 2019 RESEARCH REPORT. Climate Bonds Initiative, 2020. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/China-Green-Bond-Market-2019-Research-Report_2025-02-17-163051_qijt.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Meng |first1=Alan Xiangrui |last2=Xie |first2=Wenhong |last3=Shao |first3=Huan |last4=Lau |first4=Ivy |last5=Almeida |first5=Miguel |last6=Shang |first6=Jin |title=CHINA GREEN BOND MARKET 2019 RESEARCH REPORT |publisher=Climate Bonds Initiative |date=June 2020 |url=https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/China-Green-Bond-Market-2019-Research-Report_2025-02-17-163051_qijt.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{meng2020china, author = {Meng, Alan Xiangrui and Xie, Wenhong and Shao, Huan and Lau, Ivy and Almeida, Miguel and Shang, Jin}, title = {{CHINA GREEN BOND MARKET 2019 RESEARCH REPORT}}, institution = {Climate Bonds Initiative}, year = {2020}, month = jun, url = {https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/China-Green-Bond-Market-2019-Research-Report_2025-02-17-163051_qijt.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }