China’s Ministry of Finance Photo: VCG
Brazil’s Finance Minister Dario Durigan is scheduled to depart on June 22 for a visit to China, advancing the issuance of panda bonds in the Chinese market and attracting investments for Brazil’s ecological transition initiatives, according to CNN and local Brazilian media outlets.
The expected issuance of panda bonds by Brazil, one of the world’s largest developing economies, following similar moves by a growing number of countries, has highlighted the growing appeal of China’s financing support to countries in the Global South, a Chinese analyst said.
Durigan is scheduled to meet with Dilma Rousseff, president of the New Development Bank, and China’s Finance Minister Lan Fo’an during the trip, CNN reported. One of the key focuses is to push forward discussions on panda bonds, and the Brazilian delegation will also present the EcoInvest program, which could attract investment and resources dedicated to sustainable development, according to Brazilian business news portal Poder360.
As of press time, China’s Ministry of Finance has not yet officially announced the visit of the Brazilian Finance Minister to China.
The reported discussions on panda bonds follow a meeting between the central bank governors of China and Brazil on June 9. After that meeting, the People’s Bank of China, China’s central bank, said in a statement that the meeting discussed specific measures to support companies from both countries in opening local currency accounts, explored expanding the scope of bilateral local currency swaps, and studied the listing of direct yuan/real trading. The PBC also noted that China welcomes the Brazilian government’s issuance of sovereign panda bonds in China and looks forward to more high-quality Brazilian companies issuing bonds in the domestic market.
The Brazilian minister’s visit comes shortly after Pakistan issued panda bonds in May.
On May 15, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, together with the Asian Development Bank, announced that it was supporting Pakistan’s first yuan-denominated panda bond issuance worth 1.75 billion yuan ($259 million). According to the Xinhua News Agency, it was Pakistan’s first such sovereign bond in the offshore capital markets, aimed at supporting the development of sustainable and climate-resilient infrastructure across the water, energy and health sectors.
Panda bonds refer to yuan-denominated bonds issued by overseas entities in China.
As the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation, where the challenges confronting developing countries are particularly acute, the strengthening of South-South cooperation and advancing the interests of the Global South in international financial governance have become increasingly significant, Dong Shaopeng, a senior research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Sunday.
“As both countries are major emerging economies representing the Global South, they are stakeholders in a more equitable global financial architecture,” Dong said. Such issuance will serve as a fresh example of the two countries’ close, regulated financial sector cooperation, and highlight the long-term investment value of related Brazilian sectors.
In recent years, the panda bond market remained robust, becoming increasingly attractive to international issuers. The issuance volume hit a record 197.8 billion yuan in 2024 and 183.1 billion yuan in 2025, CNBC reported on June 17, citing data from Moody’s. Issuance exceeded 137.1 billion yuan as of the second week of June this year, up 80.4 percent year-on-year.
“The motivation for foreign institutions to issue panda bonds has grown substantially,” Tian Lihui, dean of the Institute of Financial Development at Nankai University, told the Global Times. “The fact that some overseas issuers have adopted panda bonds as a regular financing channel has shown that the appeal of the yuan stems not only from currency stability or interest rate spreads, but also from the financing convenience and liquidity support that China’s further financial market opening-up offers to global issuers. This is a systemic kind of attractiveness.”
Tian said that the rise of panda bonds marks a significant enhancement of the yuan’s international investment and financing functions. Overseas institutions are willing to hold the yuan and, more importantly, to use it for long-term financing. The fact that official institutions such as foreign central banks are beginning to become important investors in panda bonds implies that the yuan’s reserve function is gradually gaining broader recognition.