Foreign Investors’ China Bond Holdings Fall for First Time Since 2018

Overseas institutional investors reduced their holdings of Chinese bonds in February for the first time since November 2018 as the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine fueled risk-off sentiment among global investors.

They held nearly 3.67 trillion yuan ($580 billion) of Chinese bonds at the end of February, a reduction of 67 billion yuan from January, data from China Central Depository and Clearing Co. Ltd. showed Tuesday. Their holdings of Chinese government bonds (CGBs) fell a net 35 billion yuan to 2.48 trillion yuan, and holdings of policy bank bonds dropped a net 29 billion yuan, the data showed.