Fangda Partners represented the African Export-Import Bank (“Afreximbank”) on its successful issuance of three-year RMB 2.2 billion Renminbi-denominated bonds on China’s interbank bond market on March 28, 2025. This is the inaugural issuance of panda bonds by an African issuer since the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Beijing Summit and also the first issuance of panda bonds by a multilateral development institution from Africa.

The net proceeds from this offering will be used to fund Afreximbank’s ordinary operations denominated in RMB or other currencies onshore or offshore in accordance with its charter. A portion of these funds will be used in Africa to support African trade, in accordance with its mandate and/or economic and trade collaboration between Africa and China.

Fangda, as Afreximbank’s PRC legal counsel, drafted all transaction documents in Chinese and English, and also advised Afreximbank on all aspects of the transaction, including but not limited to programme registration, bond offering and ongoing disclosure obligations, and received the client’s ample trust and compliments.

In recent years, leveraging its extensive experience in panda bond transactions, Fangda has advised a number of supranational and sovereign issuers in connection with their panda bond offerings. For example, Fangda advised Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on its multiple panda bond offerings, including the first sustainable development panda bond by a supranational issuer; Asian Development Bank (ADB) on its multiple panda bond offerings;  Egypt on its debut panda bond offering, which was the first sovereign panda bond guaranteed by multilateral development institutions; and Hungary on the first-ever green sovereign panda bond offering.

Fangda team on Afreximbank’s panda bond offering was led by partner Christine Chen. Key team members included counsel Helen Zhao and associates Howie Jiang and Helen Wang.