Kangaroo, Panda, Dim Sum: Foreign Bond Sales Hit Records Across Asia

Foreign borrowers are flooding into Asia-Pacific bond markets. So-called Kangaroo, panda, and dim sum bond sales all hit records in 2026.

Kangaroo bonds, sold in Australian dollars by foreign borrowers, reached about 42 billion US dollars this year. That is a 40% jump from 2025, per LSEG data cited by Reuters.

Hong Kong and Yuan Bond Debuts Hit Records

Hong Kong dollar bond issuance has also hit a record high in 2026. Commerzbank, Engie, and Singapore Airlines sold Australian dollar or yuan bonds for the first time this year, Reuters reported.

Chinese onshore panda bonds and offshore dim sum bonds also hit records in the first half of 2026. Panda bond sales reached about 160 billion yuan, or 24 billion US dollars. Dim sum sales hit 350 billion yuan.

Both figures mark gains of more than 60% from a year earlier, according to Goldman Sachs data cited by Reuters. International borrowers accounted for about half of that volume.

“We’ve reached a tipping point where these markets have tipped over into being significantly more meaningful both to local names and inevitably to international names.”

Carla Goudge, head of debt syndicate for Asia-Pacific at HSBC, told Reuters.

Yen Bonds and the AI Borrowing Boom

Yen bond sales by foreign borrowers have also doubled this year. Alphabet’s record bond sale drove much of the increase, though yen issuance is at a seven-year high even without it.

Global bond sales topped 4 trillion US dollars by late July, up from about 3.5 trillion dollars a year earlier. Rising artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure spending and government deficits are straining major bond markets.

Big Tech’s heavy AI spending has already squeezed hyperscaler free cash flow. That adds pressure on the same bond markets these firms depend on.

The trend also reflects Beijing’s push to internationalize the yuan. It follows a stretch of sharp swings in Asian equities, including the Kospi and Nikkei sell-off earlier this year.

German carmakers and European financial institutions have been especially active panda bond issuers. That’s according to Clifford Lee, global head of investment banking at Singapore’s DBS.

More Governments Eye the Panda Bond Market

Portugal became the first eurozone government to sell a dim sum bond in April. The sale raised almost 2 billion yuan, or 300 million US dollars.

Portugal later swapped the proceeds back to euros at a small savings, Rui Amaral of the debt agency said.

Brazil plans to sell its first-ever panda bond later this year, Reuters reported. Kenya is also weighing a debut in the market.