China watchdog to emphasize prevention, resolution of bond default risks By Reuters

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s securities regulator will put more emphasis on preventing and resolving bond default risks, and will deepen bond issuance reforms and strengthen regulation, a summary of a meeting posted on its website said on Saturday.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) called for giving more prominence to openness and transparency, and deepening reforms to the registration system for bond issuance, the summary of the Commission’s 2022 Bond Supervision Work Conference held on Friday said.

The summary did not provide details on specific steps the Commission plans to take.

The CSRC will improve regulatory mechanisms, and better serve the development of the real economy and the implementation of national strategies, the summary said.

China’s current internal and external environment is complex and severe, but the country’s stable economic progress and its long-term development trend has not changed, the CSRC said.

Fitch Ratings said in late January that it expected China’s corporate bond default rate to rise in 2022, pushed up by privately owned property developers.

Chinese developers have been squeezed by a sweeping regulatory crackdown that has reined in the most free-wheeling segments of the private sector economy.