This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 24, 2015.

KUALA LUMPUR: China Construction Bank (Asia) Corp Ltd (CCB Asia) has secured the approval-in-principle from Bursa Securities to admit and list the world’s first 21st Century Maritime Silk Road bond of one billion yuan (due in 2017) on the local bourse.

The notes, so named, are part of CCB’s plans to support China’s The Land and Maritime Silk Road initiative, and the first yuan-denominated bonds issued by a Chinese state-owned bank to be listed on Bursa Malaysia under the exempt regime.

In a joint statement yesterday from CCB and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, CCB vice-chairman, executive director and president Wang Zuji said: “As one of the key members of Asean, Malaysia has always been a target of priority for CCB as the bank expands itself into the global market. “We are ready to join the Malaysian market with the proposed listing of the notes on Bursa Malaysia and hope that the listing will further enhance our profile in the Asean region, including Malaysia.”

He added that the proposed listing is “a great milestone for CCB as part of our commitment to the development of the offshore RMB markets”.

The notes, priced at 4% on Nov 19 and to be issued on Thursday, are rated “A2” by Moody’s Investors Service Pty Ltd and will be dual-listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. The joint bookrunners and joint lead managers for the issuance are CCB Asia, CCB International Capital Ltd, CIMB Bank (L) Ltd and The Hongkong Shanghai Banking Corp Ltd.

CIMB group chief executive officer Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz said the group’s lead role reinforces its strengths in investment banking and stands testament to CIMB’s ability to draw on its people, knowledge and extensive network to serve and connect clients in the markets it operates, like China.

The Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd, Bank of Communications Co Ltd (Hong Kong branch), and the China Construction Bank Corp (Singapore branch), are the additional joint lead managers.

CCB Asia is the retail and commercial business platform of CCB in Hong Kong. CCB is a leading large-scale joint stock commercial bank in mainland China. The bank is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange. At the end of 2014, the bank’s market capitalisation reached US$207.9 billion, ranking it the fourth largest among listed banks in the world.