On 23 February 2023, the Faculty of Finance of the City University of Macao held the Finance Seminar Series [16] at the Ho Yin Convention Centre. Mr. Jeremy Leng, General Manager of Hong Kong Operating Headquarter, Chongwa (Macao) Financial Asset Exchange Co., Ltd., was invited to deliver a speech titled “Overseas Bond Market and Macau Bond Market”. Guests attending this seminar include Dean Adrian Cheung and Associate Dean Eva Khong of Faculty of Finance, City University of Macao.

Mr. Jeremy Leng first shared overseas financing and bond market overview. Offshore bonds issued by Chinese-funded companies have grown rapidly in recent years, and Chinese-funded companies have become the dominant force in the offshore bond market in Asia. Hong Kong has become the largest international bond issuer in Asia, while Singapore and Hong Kong are the most preferred listing destinations for Asian issuers, as convenience and cost of listing process are the main considerations. At present, overseas US dollar bond issuers are still mainly concentrated in large industrial state-owned enterprises and provincial and sub-provincial local platforms. Many prefectures and cities also show strong interest in overseas bond issuance. It is foreseeable that a wave of platform enterprises will issue bonds overseas in the future. Furthermore, due to unique geographical advantages and policy functions undertaken by platforms, coastal and border provinces and cities have the advantages of high contact degree and quick response to overseas bond issuance.

Then, Mr. Leng analyzed the current situation of Macau's financial environment for the students. Macau has the institutional advantages of relying on mainland China and facing the world, with a stable financial system and a solid financial market foundation. It also leverages its positioning as a service platform for business cooperation with Portuguese-speaking countries to promote the development of the financial industry. Macau's financial industry has a long history of development. The traditional financial industry, mainly banking and insurance, has been mature and stable for a long time, laying a solid foundation for the development of the modern financial services industry in Macau. As the third largest industry in Macau, the financial industry has increasingly become an important direction for the moderately diversified development of Macau's economy.

As a new starting point for overseas bond financing, Macau's bond financing market is going through the process of "from scratch to excellence". With its active support of laws, regulations and market supervision, the Macau SAR government has promoted the continuous development of Macau's bond market. By showcasing data of charts and graphs, Mr. Leng briefed the transactions and investors in the Macau bond market, as well as the international bonds listed on the Macau bond market, and introduced Chongwa (Macao) Financial Asset Exchange Co., Ltd. (MOX). MOX was established in 2018 to provide issuance, listing and trading services for Macau bonds. Currently, the bonds issued or listed in Macau include national bonds, local government bonds, interest rate bonds, green bonds, anti-epidemic bonds, Belt and Road bonds, and free trade zone bonds. Lastly, Mr. Leng shared several cases of bonds issued and listed in Macau.

At the end of the sharing session, the students took this valuable opportunity to actively pose questions related to the Macau bond market, and Mr. Jeremy Leng answered in detail. In the Seminar, students paid attention to the bond market conditions overseas and in Macau, and gained a lot through the series of financial seminars. The students also expressed their expectations for the sharing of the next finance seminar.