A landmark green free trade offshore bond issued by Shanghai Electric Global Capital last week has captured significant market attention, marking the first such bond from a non-financial enterprise in the entire market. This issuance signals the expansion of the free trade offshore bond market from financial institutions to real economy enterprises, with the bond carrying a principal amount of 1.5 billion yuan, a three-year tenor, and a coupon rate of 1.8%.
Multiple banks jointly facilitated this issuance, including major state-owned banks such as Bank of China, Bank of Communications, and China Construction Bank, alongside national joint-stock banks like CM Bank and MINSHENG BANK. Both banks leveraged their domestic and overseas arms in full coordination to support the free trade offshore bond issuance.
Specifically, China Merchants Bank Co.,Ltd.'s Shanghai branch served as the domestic coordinator, while CMB International and CMB Wing Lung acted as joint bookrunners, participating in the underwriting and investment of Shanghai Electric Global's free trade offshore bond. Meanwhile, China Minsheng Banking Corp.,Ltd.'s Shanghai Free Trade Zone sub-branch acted as the domestic coordinator, with the Shanghai branch handling client liaison and coordinated services, and the Hong Kong branch serving as the overseas joint bookrunner while subscribing to a substantial portion of the green free trade offshore bond.
Through these actions, CM Bank and MINSHENG BANK have demonstrated their strong commitment to the development of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone and cross-border financing initiatives. Both banks boast deep historical roots in the Shanghai region. China Merchants Bank Co.,Ltd.'s Shanghai branch, established in 1991, was the bank's first branch outside its headquarters and also the first joint-stock commercial bank branch to set up operations in Pudong, underscoring its strategic significance. In contrast, China Minsheng Banking Corp.,Ltd.'s Shanghai branch was founded in 1996, having been rooted in Shanghai for three decades.
When the Shanghai Free Trade Zone was officially inaugurated in 2013, both China Merchants Bank Co.,Ltd.'s Shanghai Free Trade Zone sub-branch and China Minsheng Banking Corp.,Ltd.'s Shanghai Free Trade Zone sub-branch were established simultaneously. Over the years of development, the operational performance of these two banks' Shanghai operations has begun to diverge noticeably.
The asset base of China Merchants Bank Co.,Ltd.'s Shanghai branch has continued to expand, while China Minsheng Banking Corp.,Ltd.'s Shanghai branch has seen its assets contract. As of the end of 2025, China Merchants Bank Co.,Ltd.'s Shanghai branch operated 103 outlets, an increase of one from the prior year, with total assets reaching 543.635 billion yuan, up 50.8 billion yuan year-on-year. During the same period, China Minsheng Banking Corp.,Ltd.'s Shanghai branch had 101 outlets, an increase of four from the prior year, with employee numbers dropping to 2,745 from 2,832, and total assets of 508.871 billion yuan, down 61.5 billion yuan from the previous year.
This marks a significant milestone where China Merchants Bank Co.,Ltd.'s Shanghai branch has overtaken China Minsheng Banking Corp.,Ltd.'s Shanghai branch in terms of scale. On the other hand, the asset scale of China Merchants Bank Co.,Ltd.'s Shanghai Free Trade Zone sub-branch remains substantially smaller than that of China Minsheng Banking Corp.,Ltd.'s Shanghai Free Trade Zone sub-branch. As of the end of 2025, China Merchants Bank Co.,Ltd.'s Shanghai Free Trade Zone sub-branch had five outlets, an increase of one from the prior year, with total assets of 16.937 billion yuan, roughly flat year-on-year. By comparison, China Minsheng Banking Corp.,Ltd.'s Shanghai Free Trade Zone sub-branch operated just one outlet but held assets of 91.795 billion yuan, resulting in a difference of approximately 74.8 billion yuan between the two entities.
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