Tradeweb has revealed that its Chinese onshore bond trading activity has exceeded $107 billion since the launch of Bond Connect in Asia.
More than 6,200 electronic cash bond transactions have been executed on Tradeweb after it became the first company to offer an offshore trading platform to facilitate international investor access to Mainland China’s $9 trillion interbank bond market.
Tradeweb connected with the China Foreign Trading Exchange Trade System (CFETS) to become the main trading interface for offshore investors accessing the trading link. Bond Connect aims to drive the electronification and internationalisation of Chinese bond markets by allowing overseas funds to buy onshore bonds through Hong Kong.
The monthly average daily trading volume in Chinese bonds on Tradeweb increased nearly fivefold to CNY 6.8 billion since July 2017, with the single most active day (11 June) this year trading almost CNY 9 billion in notional volume.
“Our early involvement in the creation and launch of Bond Connect means we are uniquely positioned to deeply understand the specific requirements of Chinese bond market participants, and use our established client network and technology to further enhance their trading experience,” said Lee Olesky, CEO of Tradeweb Markets.
Earlier this year, it was confirmed that Chinese debt will be included on the Global Benchmark Index for the first time, which is anticipated to create further demand for electronic trading in Chinese bond markets.
Tradeweb said it has been working closely with the CFETS and asset managers on the pre-allocation of block orders in CNY bonds from mid-July this year to allow investors to complete large transactions.
“More and more clients are onboarding to Tradeweb to access Bond Connect, and our growth is a representation of the operational efficiencies this innovative program brings to institutional investors,” Li Renn Tsai, head of Asia at Tradeweb, added.