The Eurasian Development Bank has sold its first dim sum bond, and it was unusually specific about where the money goes: a border crossing and railway line on the Kazakhstan-China frontier, plus other projects in Kazakhstan with Chinese involvement.
The deal
The EDB placed the issue on October 12 and announced it the next day. It is a three-year senior unsecured bond of CNH 630 million, roughly $94 million by the estimates of Reuters and Kazakh outlet National Business, with a fixed 3.9% coupon. Orders topped the offer by more than 2.5 times. The notes are listed in Hong Kong and are the first drawdown under a new $3.5 billion medium-term note programme.
Every bank on the deal was Chinese. China Galaxy International, CICC and CITIC Securities were joint global coordinators; Fosun International Securities and Orient Securities (Hong Kong) were joint bookrunners. The EDB says demand came from Asia and from Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The issue carries an Ag rating from Hong Kong-based China Chengxin (Asia Pacific), known as CCXAP, which gave the bank its first long-term rating, also Ag with a stable outlook, on August 7.
Where the money goes
The press release names two uses. One is construction of "the Kazakhstan-China border crossing and railway line." The other is any project in Kazakhstan with Chinese participation, which the bank spells out as Chinese contractors, suppliers, investors, sponsors or co-founders.
The bank did not say which crossing it means. The obvious candidate in the public record is the 303-km Bakhty-Ayagoz line that national railway KTZ is building toward a new rail crossing into China. In January 2023 the EDB's technical assistance fund paid for the feasibility study for that line and crossing, and the bank said at the time that it intended to finance construction once the study was done. It put the extra freight capacity at about 20 million tonnes a year, the same figure KTZ gave in April 2026. The EDB has not confirmed that this bond is tied to Bakhty-Ayagoz, and we make no such link here.
Why Chinese companies should pay attention
The EDB was founded in 2006 by Russia and Kazakhstan and is headquartered in Almaty; Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are also members. At the end of June 2026 its cumulative portfolio stood at 348 projects worth $22.1 billion, with transport infrastructure among its core sectors.
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What sets this deal apart is that the use of proceeds is written around Chinese participation. For Chinese contractors and equipment suppliers working on Kazakh projects, the bank now has a pool of renminbi earmarked for exactly that kind of work, on top of the credit lines it already has from Chinese banks. Our own reading: projects that buy a lot of Chinese equipment could skip a currency conversion if funded in yuan. Still, the EDB lends project by project, and the bond itself does not mean any particular project has been financed.
The bigger picture: Kazakhstan borrowing in yuan
Kazakh borrowers have tapped Chinese money more often in 2026. In April the sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna sold a debut CNY 3 billion three-year panda bond onshore at 2.18%. The finance ministry followed with two sovereign panda deals in May and September totalling CNY 10 billion; the September three-year tranche paid 1.82% and the five-year 1.95%.
Those rates are not a fair yardstick for the EDB's 3.9%. Panda bonds trade in mainland China's interbank market, dim sum bonds offshore in Hong Kong, with different liquidity and a different investor base, and the issuers and tenors differ too. The trend matters more than the numbers: the state, its wealth fund and now a multilateral lender are all raising yuan for projects in Kazakhstan.
What to watch
Only a small slice of the $3.5 billion programme has been used, and the EDB has not said whether more issues will follow or how large they would be. How much reaches the border crossing and the railway will only be clear once the bank announces the loan agreements.
The cover is an AI-generated illustration, not a photograph.
Sources:
EDB press release (Russian), https://eabr.org/press/releases/evraziyskiy-bank-razvitiya-razmestil-debyutnye-dim-sam-obligatsii-v-gonkonge/
EDB press release (English, via Public), https://www.pubt.io/view/74D990C201FB74555FFD25ACEAC1F2004015BA09
Reuters (via The Moscow Times), https://ru.themoscowtimes.com/2026/10/13/eabr-razmestil-trekhletnie-dim-sum-bonds-na-630-mln-yuaney-v-gonkonge-a208455
Kazakhstan Today, https://www.kt.kz/rus/finansy/obligatsii_dim_sam_eabr_privlek_630_mln_yuaney_na_proekty_1378002020.html
National Business, https://nationalbusiness.kz/news/eabr-zanyal-u-kitaytsev-bolee-90-mln-na-stroitelstvo-pogranichnogo-perehoda-8d84a2/
Trend, https://www.trend.az/casia/kazakhstan/4234124.html
CCXAP, EDB issuer rating, https://ccxap.com/zh-hans/rating_result/detail/1739/
EDB, Ayagoz-Bakhty feasibility study (2023), https://eabr.org/press/releases/fond-tekhnicheskogo-sodeystviya-eabr-predostavil-finansirovanie-dlya-razrabotki-teo-stroitelstva-zhe/
Rail-news.kz, https://rail-news.kz/ru/infrastructure/24239-sroki-stroitelstva-zeleznodoroznoi-linii-baxty-aiagoz-vziaty-na-osobyi-kontrol.html
Kazinform, https://www.inform.kz/ru/kitayskiy-bank-finansiruet-stroitelstvo-novogo-pogranichnogo-perehoda-s-knr-42232c
Samruk-Kazyna, https://sk.kz/press-center/news/78952/?lang=ru
AIX (Samruk-Kazyna panda bond), https://www.aixkz.com/en/pages/news/view/historic-milestone-for-the-central-asian-capital-markets-debut-panda-bond-of-samruk-kazyna
AIX (second sovereign panda bond), https://www.aixkz.com/en/pages/news/view/second-sovereign-panda-bond-listed-on-aix
Forbes.kz, https://forbes.kz/articles/minfin-kazahstana-razmestil-panda-obligatsii-na-66-mlrd-yuaney-303186
Key facts
- The Eurasian Development Bank completed its inaugural dim sum bond issue in Hong Kong on October 12, totaling CNY 630 million in offshore RMB, with a 3-year tenor and a coupon rate of 3.9%.
- The bond received subscriptions more than 2.5 times the issue size and was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It was the first issuance under the Eurasian Development Bank’s US$3.5 billion Medium-Term Note Programme.
- The Eurasian Development Bank stated that the proceeds would be used to construct border crossings and railway lines between Kazakhstan and China, as well as for projects in Kazakhstan involving Chinese participation.
- Headquartered in Almaty, the Eurasian Development Bank was established in 2006 at the initiative of Russia and Kazakhstan. As of end-June 2026, its cumulative investment portfolio comprised 348 projects totaling US$22.1 billion.
- The Bakhty–Ayagoz Railway is 303 km long and is being constructed by Kazakhstan’s national railway company. In 2023, the Eurasian Development Bank’s Technical Assistance Fund financed a feasibility study for the railway.
- On August 7 this year, China Chengxin International Credit Rating Co., Ltd. assigned the Eurasian Development Bank its inaugural long-term credit rating of Ag, with a stable outlook.
FAQ
What type of bond did the Eurasian Development Bank issue this time?
The inaugural dim sum bond issue was completed in Hong Kong on October 12. It is a 3-year senior unsecured bond totaling CNY 630 million in offshore RMB, with a coupon rate of 3.9%. The issue received subscriptions more than 2.5 times the offering size and was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Which projects will the proceeds be used to finance?
The bank’s press release identifies two categories of use: first, the construction of border crossings and railway lines between Kazakhstan and China; and second, projects in Kazakhstan involving Chinese contractors, suppliers, investors, sponsors, or co-founders.
Will the funds be directed toward the Bakhty–Ayagoz Railway?
The bank did not identify any specific border crossing or railway line by name. Publicly available information points to the Bakhty–Ayagoz Railway as a possible match. In 2023, the Eurasian Development Bank’s Technical Assistance Fund financed a feasibility study for the railway, but the bank has not yet stated whether the proceeds from this issue will be directed to the line.
Can the 3.9% coupon rate be directly compared with the rates on Kazakhstan panda bonds?
No direct comparison is possible. Panda bonds are issued in China’s domestic interbank market, whereas dim sum bonds are issued in Hong Kong’s offshore market. The two markets have different funding conditions and investor bases, and their issuers and tenors also differ.
Can Chinese enterprises in Kazakhstan obtain these funds directly?
The proceeds are intended for projects involving Chinese participation, but whether each project qualifies for a loan and on what terms will remain subject to the bank’s individual review and approval. The bond issue itself does not mean that any specific project has secured financing.