A TOTAL of 419 institutions and fund products completed registration to enter China’s domestic interbank bond market in October, including fund products under global hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, official data showed.

    The seven hedge fund products are all under Bridgewater Associates LP, a U.S. hedge fund firm, according to a recent statement on the website of China Foreign Exchange Trading System & National Interbank Funding Center (CFETS).

    “This starts the era of foreign hedge funds’ access to the China interbank bond market program, which has previously indicated strong preference to long-term investors,” said Becky Liu, a strategist at Standard Chartered.

    China said in February that it would open up its interbank bond market to certain types of eligible foreign investors and scrap quotas for long-term investors such as pension funds and charity funds.

    It significantly widened foreign access to the world’s third-largest debt market from the current Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor and Renminbi QFII channels, which are restricted by license and quota approvals.

    However, there has been speculation that hedge funds and private equity funds may not fall within the scope of eligible investors. (SD-Agencies)