CCB lists $1.2b bond on Nasdaq Dubai

BEIJING - Guo You, chairman of the board of supervisors of China Construction Bank on Wednesday rang the market-opening bell to celebrate the listing of a $1.2 billion bond on Nasdaq Dubai, the stock exchange that lists regional and international shares in the Middle East.

Nasdaq Dubai said in a statement that the listing by the Hong Kong Branch of CCB "underlines the country's growing financial activities in the United Arab Emirates and the wider region."

CCB's market capitalization totaled $192.6 billion dollars at the end of 2016, the fifth biggest of any bank in the world, and it has branches and subsidiaries in 29 countries.

It is the second bond listing by the Hong Kong Branch of CCB on Nasdaq Dubai under the bank's $6 billion Medium Term Note Program, following a $600 million bond that listed on the bourse in October.

"The capital raised through our bond supports our growing commercial banking and other activities in the UAE, the Middle East and beyond, under the Belt and Road Initiative," said CCB's Guo.

The Belt and Road Initiative is a strategic masterplan introduced in 2013, aimed at economically integrating Asia with the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

Essa Kazim, governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre which hosts Nasdaq Dubai as a licensed market, said Dubai was committed to expanding its economic links with China in order to support dynamic crossborder business initiatives and promote mutual prosperity and development.

"The capital markets are one of the many areas in which our relationship is strengthening and we will continue to enhance our exchange infrastructure to support the business needs of Chinese institutions," he said.

Xinhua