Dialogue with SGX Group Managing Director Chan Qing: Regional Investors Are Increasingly Taking a Long-term Approach to RMB Asset Allocation

Overseas investors now have another option for allocating to RMB bonds.

In mid-October, the Galaxy-ICBC-CFETS Belt and Road Bond Index ETF was listed on the Singapore Exchange (hereinafter referred to as "SGX"), supporting trading in both SGD and offshore RMB. SGX stated that this is the first "Belt and Road" themed RMB bond ETF listed on the Singapore securities market.

By purchasing units of this fund, investors can participate in a basket of related RMB bonds. The fund is traded in Singapore, while the bond index it tracks covers relevant RMB bonds in China’s interbank bond market.

The launch of this product is also related to SGX’s observation of investor demand.

In an interview with WallstreetCN, SGX Group Managing Director Tan Qing said that investors are increasingly interested in using transparent and convenient tools such as ETFs for allocation. “We have observed that regional investor interest in RMB assets is gradually shifting from tactical allocations to long-term allocations, with rising attention to the fixed income sector.”

Tan Qing, Group Managing Director of SGX

For SGX, adding RMB bond products means not only finding suitable underlying assets, but also enabling overseas investors to participate via familiar ways. This ETF is built around these two ends.

A New Access Point to RMB Bonds

This ETF tracks the CFETS-Galaxy Securities Belt and Road Themed Bond Index compiled by China Foreign Exchange Trade System. The index covers bonds related to the Belt and Road traded in China’s interbank market, including panda bonds issued by eligible sovereign issuers, international enterprises, and multilateral development banks.

Panda bonds are RMB bonds issued by overseas issuers in China’s domestic market. Through these bonds, foreign institutions can raise RMB funds in China’s bond market, and this ETF adds a new channel for overseas investors to participate in the allocation of relevant RMB bonds in China via a Singapore-listed fund.

The Belt and Road is the investment theme of the product — what investors actually hold are fund units, and the fund tracks a bond index. Understanding this helps clarify how the product translates a broad theme into a specific investment portfolio.

For investors, the direct impact brought by the ETF is the elimination of the need to buy individual bonds and adjust portfolios themselves.

Tan Qing noted that directly investing in China’s domestic interbank bond market involves account opening, trading, settlement, and portfolio management arrangements. With an ETF, investors gain exposure to a basket of relevant bonds, with fund managers handling the operational matters.

Indexation also provides a benchmark for investment scope. Investors participate in the bond portfolio through the same product, while the fund is managed according to the index and investment strategy.

This method caters to the tool demand mentioned by Tan Qing: investors want to allocate to RMB fixed income assets, but also want to reduce the operational burden of trading and managing individual bonds. Moreover, the product supports trading in both SGD and offshore RMB, further improving convenience for investors.

Behind the fund is the collaboration of several institutions. China Foreign Exchange Trade System is responsible for index compilation and sample maintenance, Galaxy Securities Singapore acts as the fund manager, ICBC Singapore provides investment advisory services, and SGX provides the listing and trading infrastructure.

Tan Qing sees the experience from this collaboration as the integration of an RMB bond index compiled by CFETS with Singapore’s product launch and listing mechanism. Index compilation and maintenance, fund management, and offshore financial services all play their respective roles, laying a foundation for the future development of more themed fixed income products.

Diversified Allocation Demand

From SGX's perspective, demand for RMB bond ETFs is expanding from single institutional clients to a wider variety of investors.

Tan Qing mentioned that a structural change in the SGX ETF market in recent years is the significant increase in retail investor participation.

By the first half of 2026, the proportion of retail investors in SGX's total ETF assets under management exceeded 40%, with ETF investments via digital platforms, regular savings plans, and retirement plans continuing to grow.

This data reflects the participation structure of the entire SGX ETF market. Based on this, Tan Qing points out that demand for ETFs including RMB bonds is no longer limited to institutions; retail investors also have authentic demand for fixed income products that can be traded on exchanges and can accept small investments.

Broader investor participation puts varying requirements on product supply. Exchanges not only need to add asset classes, but also provide various themes and participation options, enabling investors to incorporate products into their existing portfolios.

SGX’s ETF offerings have already covered equities, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), commodities, and fixed income. With the launch of this Belt and Road Bond ETF, the number of ETFs on SGX reaches 60, and total assets under management is about SGD 21 billion.

Regarding China-related assets, SGX already lists several ETFs linked to onshore Chinese stock indices and RMB bonds. The new product further refines options in the fixed income segment, allowing allocation centered on the Belt and Road theme.

Tan Qing said this ETF further enriches SGX’s fixed income product lineup while offering investors more options for allocating both Chinese equity assets and RMB fixed income assets in the same market.

On the increase of products and the mutual integration of cross-border indices, Tan Qing noted that as of press time, there are already 11 ETFs listed under the China-Singapore ETF Connect mechanism. SGX will continue to explore equity, fixed income, and thematic ETFs, and deepen its partnerships with entities such as CSI and CFETS.

Among these, RMB bonds, panda bonds, and green-themed fixed income are product focuses for SGX. By developing indices and transforming them into investable products such as ETFs, SGX hopes to continue broadening the toolkit for overseas investors allocating to Chinese onshore RMB assets.

This Belt and Road Bond ETF provides a tangible starting point. As Chinese stocks and bond products become more abundant, SGX’s next step is to offer more refined themes within existing asset classes, meeting the increasingly diversified and long-term RMB asset allocation needs of investors.

The Full Interview Transcript:

WallstreetCN: SGX has continued to enrich its ETF product lineup in recent years. How do you position this Belt and Road Bond Index ETF within Singapore Exchange’s existing product system?

Tan Qing: This is the first Belt and Road Bond Index ETF listed on SGX, and the first Belt and Road themed RMB bond ETF overseas. It further enriches the selection of China-related investment products for international investors, helping investors to more precisely allocate to China assets around a theme on the foundation of SGX’s comprehensive toolkit.

In terms of the product system, the role of the Belt and Road Bond Index ETF is manifest at both internal and external levels:

For SGX, the Belt and Road Bond Index ETF enriches the fixed income product line and improves the layout of its diversified asset platform. As a multi-asset exchange, SGX’s ETF products already cover equities, REITs, commodities, and fixed income, among other categories. The listing of this ETF not only further expands the range of investable China capital market products on SGX, but also supports trading in both SGD and offshore RMB, providing regional investors with greater flexibility. Since this product’s listing, the total number of ETFs on SGX has increased to 60, with assets under management of about SGD 21 billion, further cementing Singapore's status as one of the world's international gateways for offshore RMB investment.

For the market, this ETF makes "one-stop allocation to China assets" more complete. The Galaxy-ICBC-CFETS Belt and Road Bond Index ETF tracks the customized CFETS-Galaxy Securities Belt and Road Themed Bond Index, including RMB bonds issued by sovereigns, international corporates, and multilateral development banks, as well as panda bonds. Serving as a bridge between China and global capital markets, SGX has launched multiple ETFs linked to Chinese equities and RMB bonds. The listing of this ETF offers investors a new channel to easily invest in a diversified RMB bond portfolio related to China’s Belt and Road Initiative via exchange trading, empowering international investors to diversify their China equity and fixed income allocations in one market and enjoy a broader set of choices.

WallstreetCN: The new product is a joint initiative by SGX, CFETS, Galaxy Securities Singapore, and ICBC Singapore. What do you think are the most innovative or replicable experiences of this cooperation?

Tan Qing: This cooperation fully reflects Singapore’s role as a key international financial center and offshore RMB hub, acting as a bridge connecting international capital and the China market.

The coordinated launch of this cross-border bond ETF by four parties—China index infrastructure, Chinese asset management institutions, offshore advisory banks, and an international exchange—offers three main innovative and replicable experiences:

First, a complete link-up from authoritative Chinese index sources to Singapore product launches. The index is custom-built by CFETS, ensuring the authoritativeness of the underlying assets; then a Chinese institution launches the ETF product in Singapore, and SGX provides listing, trading, and liquidity infrastructure, realizing the full value chain of “onshore China assets–onshore China index–offshore Singapore ETF–international investor.”

Second, a division-of-labor model where each party leverages its strengths. CFETS is responsible for index compilation and maintenance; Galaxy Securities Singapore acts as fund manager, launching the offshore product; ICBC Singapore branch leverages offshore RMB clearing and fixed income market experience to provide investment advisory; SGX handles the exchange listing and trading ecosystem. Combining index development, fund management, offshore financial services, and exchange infrastructure lowers the barriers for launching innovative cross-border products.

Third, turning policy themes into market-based investable products. Themes under the Belt and Road Initiative, panda bonds, and similar frameworks are transformed into passive, index-based ETF products, aligning both with bilateral financial cooperation goals and strict market-oriented product logic. This multi-party cooperation model aligns with the direction proposed at the 21st JCBC China-Singapore Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation to deepen index and ETF connectivity, and can be replicated to more thematic fixed income and cross-market index ETF developments in the future.

WallstreetCN: For overseas investors, what advantages does using a listed ETF on SGX to allocate to China’s interbank bond market have compared to other investment channels?

Tan Qing: This ETF provides international investors with a more convenient, transparent, and efficient channel to participate in the Chinese fixed income market.

For many international investors, direct participation in China’s interbank bond market still involves account opening, trading, settlement, and portfolio management. A listed ETF on SGX brings investors the following conveniences:

First is a lower entry threshold. International investors can gain exposure to a basket of Belt and Road related RMB bonds via the SGX-listed ETF, without having to trade and manage each underlying bond themselves.

Second is simplified portfolio management and risk diversification. Index ETFs like the Belt and Road Bond Index ETF hold a basket of bonds via an index approach, achieving risk diversification and greatly reducing research, trading, and rebalancing management costs for global investors.

Third is the transparency and flexibility of trading.  ETFs are quoted live and traded intraday on the exchange, offering investors more convenient ways to trade and visibility into underlying assets. Additionally, ETFs including the Belt and Road Bond Index ETF support trading in both SGD and offshore RMB, which allows use of local currency without additional cross-border transfers or FX conversions for investors.

Fourth is Singapore’s mature financial ecosystem. Singapore has established a robust financial ecosystem, amassing over 2,000 family offices, more than 400 private equity/venture capital firms, and over 1,200 fund managers, with AUM reaching SGD 6 trillion. Operating under Singapore’s regulatory framework, investors enjoy familiar legal, custody, and disclosure environments, making it easier to manage existing investment portfolios and risk control systems.

WallstreetCN: This ETF supports both SGD and offshore RMB trading. What changes has SGX observed in regional investor demand for RMB assets and Chinese fixed income products in recent years?

Tan Qing: We have observed that regional investor interest in RMB assets is gradually shifting from tactical allocation to long-term allocation with increasing attention to the fixed income sector. At the same time, investors are increasingly inclined to use transparent and convenient tools such as ETFs for allocation, so products like RMB bond ETFs are attracting more interest.

In addition, a structural change in the SGX ETF market in recent years is greater retail participation. By the first half of 2026, retail investors accounted for more than 40% of SGX’s ETF total AUM, with ETF investment through digital platforms, regular savings plans, and retirement plans continuously expanding. This means that demand for ETFs including RMB bonds is no longer limited to institutions—there is genuine demand among retail investors for tradable, small-ticket fixed income products.

Against this backdrop, the Belt and Road Bond Index ETF offered by SGX as an offshore RMB hub gives investors a convenient and transparent tool to allocate RMB fixed income, responding to changing market demand.

WallstreetCN: Over a longer cycle, what role does SGX hope this product will play in connecting international capital with China’s markets and advancing the development of Singapore’s offshore RMB market? What cross-border product opportunities will be key going forward?

Tan Qing: SGX will continue to leverage its position as a diversified multi-asset platform in Asia and act as a bridge connecting cross-border markets. Looking ahead, SGX will further implement the China-Singapore capital market cooperation strategy, focusing on several categories of cross-border products:

1. Continued development of the China-Singapore ETF Connect ecosystem: The China-Singapore ETF Connect mechanism has been running for three years, with 11 ETFs listed. In the future, SGX will continue to explore equity, fixed income, and thematic ETF innovations, implementing JCBC’s call to expand the supply of ETF Connect products and enrich two-way investment channels.

2. Deepening joint index innovations: Continuing partnerships with CSI, CFETS, and other institutions for index cooperation. Following the CSI-SGX Asia Emerging Markets Technology Index and CSI-SGX Asia Select 100 series, more joint cross-market, thematic indices will be developed and converted into investable products like ETFs, linking the “index—product—investment” chain.

3. Expanding cross-border fixed income investment products: Focusing on RMB bonds, panda bonds, and green-themed fixed income, exploring more ETFs and index-linked products, leveraging Singapore’s advantage as an offshore RMB hub.

As a crucial bridge connecting international capital and China’s markets, SGX will continue to act as one of the international centers for offshore RMB, promote innovation in cross-border ETFs and fixed income products, and provide global investors with more convenient and efficient channels to participate in China’s capital markets. The Belt and Road Bond Index ETF, as the first overseas Belt and Road themed RMB bond ETF, is an important milestone in this long-term development direction.