The fundraising scale of the panda bond market has reached a new quarterly high.

French bank BNP Paribas will launch a panda bond issuance next week with a maximum amount of 5 billion yuan, marking the first time for BNP Paribas to issue panda bonds. Data shows that the total amount of panda bond issuances from the first quarter to present has reached 66.94 billion yuan, setting a new record high for a single quarter. Additionally, while overseas branches of Chinese enterprises still constitute the main part of panda bond issuers, the number of issuances by foreign institutions has increased from 6 in 2015 to 36 last year.