Amid challenging conditions, Asia’s growth story is still in full play on the back of generally robust economic fundamentals. This comes as the higher-for-longer interest rate environment is likely to stay for a while as the US Federal Reserve has opted for a pause to rate cuts during its first Federal Open Market Committee meeting in 2025 on January 29. As well, heightened political tensions, escalating trade conflict and US policy shift are fuelling further uncertainties in the world economy.

Against this market backdrop, Asia has manifested its resilience. Last year, for instance, the region witnessed active fundraising in debt capital markets to finance investments and other expansion plans. The G3 bond deal flows from Asia, outside of Japan and Australasia, rebounded from the downtrend recorded in 2023 as more borrowers and issuers returned to the offshore debt markets in 2024 to raise capital and for refinancing. The local currency bond markets also continue their upward trajectory as more deals are being printed due to cheaper funding costs.

Along with the increased issuance volume, the total amount of environmental, social and governance ( ESG )-related debt also climbed in 2024 as several corporates and financial institutions remained committed in their pursuit of net-zero objectives and contributed to a low-carbon economy. This fact was clearly evident in The Triple A Sustainable Finance Awards 2025 submissions that were reviewed and evaluated by The Asset’s board of editors. As a result, several banks, demonstrating their structuring expertise and capabilities to launch innovative and ground-breaking transactions into the market, have positioned themselves to win these highly-coveted awards.

The total G3 bond issuance in Asia, outside of Japan and Australasia, according to LSEG data, surged 34.3% to US$233.74 billion in 2024 compared with US$174.04 billion in the previous year. Contributing to this trend are the renewed issuances from China led by the sovereign, which tapped the offshore bond market twice – the first in September amounting to €2 billion ( US$2.08 billion ) and the second in November amounting to US$2 billion.

Both deals marked the return of the China Ministry of Finance ( MoF ) to the G3 bond market after an absence of three years. The US dollar offering was launched with an added significance as it represented the first time the MoF had conducted a bond sale in Saudi Arabia, instead of the usual issuance in Hong Kong, in a demonstration of the growing relationship between the two countries.

By country, China also emerged as the largest G3 bond issuer in the region with a total volume of US$81.40 billion, up 63.4% from US$49.80 billion in 2023. It surpassed South Korea, which dropped to second spot with a volume of US$60.27 billion in 2024, up from US$57.19 billion a year earlier.

Other markets that recorded increased issuance activity in 2024 included Hong Kong with US$22.13 billion ( up 17.4 % ); Indonesia with US$12.68 billion ( up 83.3% ); Singapore, US$11.01 billion ( up 30.1% ); India, US$9 billion ( up 107.2% ); the Philippines, US$8.50 billion ( up 111.5% ); and Malaysia, US$3.52 billion ( up 58.7% ).

The higher G3 bond issuance, according to LSEG, also came on the back of a bigger volume of deals from the high-yield space, which totalled US$13.17 billion in 2024, or more than three times the 2023 volume of only US$3.78 billion. The high-yield deal activity was spearheaded by the issuers from India, which accounted for US$5.13 billion, or 39% of the total issuance, with transactions coming from the likes of Shriram Finance, Indiabulls Housing Finance, IRB Infrastructure Developers, Vedanta Resources and Biocon Biologics.

ESG-related bonds

The continuing appetite for ESG-related bonds – green, social, sustainability, sustainability-linked and blue – also helped drive the G3 bond issuance, as their volume rose to US$55.83 billion in 2024 from US$45.62 billion in the preceding year. And sovereigns – led by the Republics of Indonesia and the Philippines and the Kingdom of Thailand – were at the forefront of the issuance activity, demonstrating their commitment to sustainable finance.

By country, China also vaulted to the top of the league table as the leading ESG-related bond issuer with a total volume of US$27.09 billion, almost double the 2023 figure of US$13.82 billion, relegating South Korea to second place as its issuance during the same period fell 24.6%, from US$17.44 billion to US$13.15 billion.

Such brisk demand saw a series of innovative trades by Chinese issuers, such as the simultaneous issuance of sustainability-linked, green and social ( SGS ) loans by Bank of China – through its Frankfurt branch – amounting to 2.5 billion offshore yuan ( US$347.70 million ). The eligible sustainability-linked loans ( SLLs ) will have key performance indicators that contribute to climate transition or socio-economic advancement, while the eligible green and social loans will align with the eight environmental and four social use-of-proceeds categories described in the bank’s SGS bond framework.

In yet another first, Bank of China printed the world’s inaugural Belt and Road Initiative ( BRI )-Partner sustainability notes, issued through its branches in Macau ( 1 billion offshore yuan ), in Hungary ( US$500 million ) and in Panama ( US$300 million ). The proceeds were used to finance eligible green and social projects, such as renewable energy, sustainable water resources and wastewater management, affordable basic living facilities and basic service needs, which are allocated in around 13 BRI-Partner countries. Notably, China Merchants Bank ( New York ) issued the first-ever offshore small and medium-sized enterprise supportive-themed social bond offering by a Chinese joint stock bank with the aim of promoting inclusive finance and employment generation.

Meanwhile, the issuance in the local currency ( LCY ) bond markets increased for the seventh year in a row with the total volume amounting to US$4.01 trillion equivalent in 2024. This is the first time, according to LSEG data, that the issuance topped the US$4 trillion mark as it rose from US$3.64 trillion in 2023 and US$3.39 trillion in 2022.

The rebound in the G3 bond market and the continuing increase in the LCY issuance were in contrast to the decline witnessed in the syndicated loan market, as its total volume slumped to US$434.87 billion in 2024 from US$513.36 billion a year ago.

Among the biggest markets, the declines were noted in China at US$136.02 billion ( or down 34% from US$206.03 billion in 2023 ); Taiwan at US$48.18 billion ( down 16.9% from almost US$58 billion ); India, US$36.66 billion ( down 8% from US$39.86 billion ); and Indonesia, US$13.38 billion ( down 62.7% from US$35.90 billion ).

Other markets, though, managed to buck the downtrend, among them, Hong Kong, whose volume rose 12.3% to US$83.61 billion, and Singapore, whose jumped 38.9% to US$83.61 billion.

It is interesting to note that despite the decline in the overall syndicated loan volume, the amount of ESG-related loans increased to US$102.27 billion in 2024 from US$84.36 billion in the previous year. Topping the league table were Singapore with US$36.89 billion, followed by Hong Kong with US$29.96 billion and Taiwan with US$16.26 billion.

Standout deals

Among the deals that stood out in 2024 are the US$700 million sustainability aircraft portfolio financing for CDB Aviation Lease Finance, considered as the first SLL for aircraft portfolio financing executed by an aircraft lessor globally. And COFCO International printed a US$600 million SLL, representing the first financing facility with interest rate incentives tied to Science-Based Targets initiative-validated Forest Land and Agriculture targets for 1.5 degrees Celsius climate alignment.

Over in Taiwan, E Ink Holdings debuted with a NT$3 billion ( US$91.27 million ) green loan – the first financing in Asia-Pacific to achieve majority alignment with the EU Taxonomy’s technical screening criteria validated by an independent opinion provider Moody’s Ratings.

On the other hand, fundraising through equity capital markets ( ECM ), according to LSEG data, remained a challenging proposition in 2024 as its total volume in Asia, outside of Japan and Australasia, fell to US$167.60 billion from US$198.93 billion a year ago.

Amid such sluggish performance, India shone brightly as it managed to captivate the market with its total ECM fundraising more than doubling to US$72.29 billion in 2024, compared with US$34.04 billion in the previous year. The country’s growth story attracted a lot of interest from investors and underpinned the frenzy surrounding its initial public offering ( IPO ) market, whose total proceeds in 2024 amounted to US$20.48 billion, against US$7.42 billion in 2023.

Among the IPOs that captured the headlines are the US$3.32 billion fund raising by Hyundai Motor India, which was the largest IPO in Indian capital market history, and the US$1.34 billion deal for Swiggy, which was the largest consumer tech IPO in India.

Other large ECM transactions from India in 2024 were the US$2.11 billion block trade by BAT in ITC Limited, the US$1.14 billion block trade by Tata Sons in Tata Consultancy Services and the US$1.04 billion qualified institutional placement by Vedanta Resources.

India’s stellar ECM performance failed to offset the huge decline noted in China, whose fundraising plunged to US$60.31 billion in 2024 from US$130.19 billion a year earlier. China’s IPO proceeds, based on LSEG data, plummeted from US$50.21 billion to US$14.44 billion as the number of deals dropped from 394 to 184 during the same period.

Nonetheless, there were a number of deals that stood out last year, among them, the US$5 billion convertible bond ( CB ) for e-commerce giant Alibaba that included a US$1.2 billion concurrent stock buyback and capped call overlay with 100% premium. This is the largest global CB issuance since 2007 and the largest tech CB issuance ever.

Another highlight deal was the world’s first blue exchangeable bond issued by Shandong Energy Group amounting to US$500 million, which demonstrates to corporates that an alternative equity-linked financing in accordance with the green finance framework can support their green transformation agenda.

In terms of IPO, Midea Group’s HK$31 billion ( US$3.98 billion ) share sale in September 2024 was the biggest for a Chinese enterprise globally during the past two years and the largest to date by any A-share listed company in the non-financial services sector.

In line with The Asset’s focus on sustainable finance, there is a heightened competition to win its top awards like Best Bank for Sustainable Finance, ESG Bank of the Year, Best Sustainable Finance Adviser, Best Loan Adviser and Best G3 Bond Adviser.

Accolades will also be bestowed on various issuers, whose transactions defined the capital markets in 2024 and further contributed to the development of the sustainable finance market in the region.

Find out who the winners will be when we announce them, Oscar-style, at the gala dinner on March 19 2025 to be held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong.

For the complete list of best issuers, please click here.

For the complete list of nominees/winners for best banks and advisers, please click here.

For more information about the awards gala scheduled for March 19 2025, please contact us at celebrate@theasset.com.