Portugal Sells Offshore Yuan Bonds in First For Euro-Area

Portugal has become the first euro-area country to tap the offshore renminbi bond market, raising the equivalent of about €250 million as it seeks to diversify its funding sources.

The country’s debt agency said Thursday that it sold 1.99 billion yuan of eight-year debt in a private placement managed last week by Deutsche Bank AG and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. The securities — colloquially known as dim sum bonds — are a rarity among governments outside of East Asia.