MANILA, Oct. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Thursday priced its debut renmimbi-denominated bonds named "Panda" in Chinese domestic capital market, an ADB news release said here.

    The issue of the bonds has a principal amount of one billion RMB yuan and a bullet maturity of 10 years. Priced at par, the Panda bonds carry an annual coupon of 3.34 percent per annum and have a maturity date of 14 October 2015, the ADB said.

    ADB treasurer Mikio Kashiwagi thanked the Chinese government for its extensive support in making this market-opening transaction possible, saying, "We hope this pioneering transaction will contribute to the further development of China's bond market."

    "We are pleased to be able to successfully price ADB's inaugural Panda bond issue," said Kashiwagi. "The tight pricing reflects investors' understanding of ADB's high quality credit andthe diversification opportunity offered by this pioneering transaction."

    Prior to pricing, ADB and the sole lead manager, Bank of China International (BOCI) Ltd, conducted roadshows in Beijing and Shanghai to present the deal to over 100 institutional investors.

    Offered through a book-building process with a price guidance of 3.30 percent to 3.39 percent, the issue generated strong demand with total bids amounting to almost 3 billion yuan or three times the issue amount.

    Together with International Finance Corporation, ADB became thefirst foreign issuer in China's bond market with the Panda bonds.

    ADB will use the proceeds of the bonds to fund its development projects in China, the release said. The objective is to help reduce currency mismatches for borrowers that have no foreign exchange earnings.

    After India and the Philippines, China is the third country where ADB plans to undertake local currency financing.

    In the fields of bonds, ADB's other market-opening transactionsin the region include a Samurai bond issue in Japan 1970, an Arirang bond issue in the Republic of Korea in 1995, and a New Taiwan Dollar issue in Taipei, China in 1995. Enditem