US investment bank Lehman Brothers and China's Xinhua Financial Network have unveiled the first comprehensive index to track Chinese mainland fixed-income securities. 
 
US investment bank Lehman Brothers and China's Xinhua Financial Network have unveiled the first comprehensive index to track Chinese mainland fixed-income securities.

The Xinhua Lehman China Aggregate Index will track 136 treasuries, agencies and corporate bonds, with a total market value of 1.8 trillion yuan or US$217 billion. The constituent securities will be fixed-rate instruments denominated in yuan with at least one year to maturity.

Lehman Brothers and Xinhua Financial will launch the index on March 15, backdated to January 1st.

Interest in mainland bonds is expected to grow as China opens its financial markets further to foreign investors. This creates a need for an internationally recognized benchmark to gauge their performances.

(CRI February 25, 2004)