In the News: China, UK Plan Bond Connect; Immigration Rules Ease; and Lufax Quits P2P Lending

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China, UK plan Bond Connect program

China and the U.K. are planning to establish a two-way bond connect scheme and have agreed to set up a working group to study the feasibility of such a program, according to media reports. The move follows the successful launch of the Shanghai-London Stock Connect program last month and forms part of China’s efforts to further open up its financial market. Speaking at Bloomberg’s Navigate the New Silk Road 2019 event in London, China’s ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, said the two countries want to launch an equivalent connect scheme to the Shanghai-London Stock Connect for their bond markets. In July 2017, the Chinese government launched Bond Connect to make it easier for overseas investors to access the country’s onshore bond market, which is the second largest in the world according to the Bank for International Settlements.

More from CLP: China Drafts New Rules to Promote Bond Investments by Foreign Investors; Shanghai-London Stock Connect Goes Live With Huatai Securities Debut; Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation, Circular on the Policy for Enterprise Income Tax and Value-added Tax on Investments in the Domestic Bond Market by Foreign Organizations