Chinese firms seek bridge loans to ease bond repayment pressure

Staff members wearing protective suits check passengers at the Shanghai railway station in Shanghai, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, February 27, 2020. Picture taken February 27, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song

HONG KONG: Some of China’s state-owned and large private firms are in preliminary talks with banks to use bridge loans to refinance bonds under imminent repayment pressure, according to loan arrangers at four banks.

The discussions about the popular form of interim financing have emerged as these relatively strong borrowers seek to wait out the volatility in the bond market induced by the coronavirus outbreak, said the loan arrangers who asked not to be named as the information is private.