China today announced plans to sell its first dollar-denominated sovereign bonds for 13 years despite recent downgrades to its credit rating.
The USD two billion offering, announced by the finance ministry, is a drop in the bucket for China, which has sold 2.4 trillion yuan (USD 366 billion) of central government debt this year, according to Bloomberg News.
But the move could be intended to ease concerns after Standard & Poor's and Moody's cut its credit ratings in recent months due to the country's mounting debt load.
The finance ministry will sell USD one billion of five- year notes and USD one billion of 10-year notes in Hong Kong, but the statement did not say what interest rates it expected.
The first dollar-denominated debt issue since 2004 comes as the Communist Party prepares for its twice-a-decade leadership meeting next week.
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