Earlier this week, as part of the visit of Luxembourg Minister of Finance Yuriko Backes to China, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) and China Everbright Bank pledged to work together to unite Chinese and international capital markets and to progress the sustainable finance agenda by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This MoU marks the first official cooperation between the two institutions.

“We are pleased to enter into this cooperation with China Everbright Bank. Cross-border collaboration is key to more connected and sustainable capital markets. We look forward to working with China Everbright Bank to help link Chinese issuers and international investors and advance the sustainable finance agenda in international capital markets,” commented Julie Becker, CEO of LuxSE, during the official signing ceremony, which took place in China Everbright Bank’s headquarters in Beijing, China on Wednesday 24 May.

The gateway to Europe

The purpose of the MoU is to establish a framework of cooperation between the two institutions in the field of listing and trading of a broad range of financial instruments issued by Chinese entities, including sustainable securities, and to join forces to develop sustainable finance activities which contribute to China’s stated goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2060.  This MoU places a specific focus on strengthening the international visibility and transparency of green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked (GSSS) bonds.

President of China Everbright Bank, Mr Wang Zhiheng noted at the signing ceremony that, “Luxembourg is an important international financial centre and serves as a bridge to European markets. China Everbright Bank stands ready to further strengthen exchanges and broaden cooperation with Luxembourg in the financial sector. This MoU is an opportunity to promote green finance cooperation both between China and Luxembourg, and China and Europe, and offer comprehensive financial services to Chinese enterprises with global ambitions.”

Established in 1992, China Everbright Bank is a listed joint-stock commercial bank. Since then, the bank has steadily worked to promote its international presence and in 2017, China Everbright Bank became the seventh Chinese bank to set up overseas offices in Luxembourg.

International scope

As the world’s leading exchange for the listing of international debt securities, LuxSE has a strong focus on international cooperation and works closely with selected exchanges around the world to create more connected capital markets and facilitate access to the international investment community for issuers across the world.  

The Luxembourg Green Exchange (LGX), which is LuxSE’s leading platform for sustainable finance, now encompasses more than 1,700 sustainable bonds raising a total of EUR 890 billion for sustainable development across the world, issued by 270+ issuers in 55 countries. As a sign of its international scope, LGX displays sustainable securities in 40 different currencies.