A unit of Guosen Securities, China’s eighth-largest investment bank, has defaulted on a Kong Kong-traded renminbi bond, according to a document seen by the Financial Times, marking the first debt breach by a state-owned enterprise in China’s offshore bond market in nearly two decades.

根据英国《金融时报》看到的一份文件，中国第八大投资银行国信证券(Guosen Securities)的一个部门，在一笔在香港交易的人民币债券上发生了违约。这是近20年来中国国有企业在中国境外债券市场中首次违约。

The technical default by Guosen's Hong Kong affiliate puts at risk a Rmb38m ($5.9m) coupon payment due April 24 on Rmb1.2bn in “dim sum” bonds sold in 2014. Missing that payment would set a precedent for the offshore units of Chinese SOEs, whose creditors widely assume the onshore parent will always stand behind its affiliates, according to analysts.

国信证券香港分支机构的这次技术性违约，令一笔本该在4月24日支付的3800万元人民币（合590万美元）的利息面临风险，涉及的债券规模为12亿元人民币，是2014年销售的一批“点心”债。根据分析师的说法，未能及时支付这笔资金会为中国国企境外部门设立一个先例。这些国企的债权人曾普遍认为，它们的分支机构背后永远站着其在中国境内的母公司。

The default was unexpected because Guosen’s onshore unit is by all appearances in rude health. With the city government of Shenzhen as its largest shareholder, Guosen Securities was fourth on the league table for stock and bond underwriting in 2015, according to AsiaMoney.

这次违约的出人意料之处在于，无论从哪方面看，国信境内部门财务状况都非常好。由于深圳市政府是国信证券的最大股东，按照《亚洲货币》(AsiaMoney)的排名，2015年国信证券在股票和债券承销的排行榜上名列第四。

The Shenzhen-listed brokerage earned net profit of Rmb14.2bn in 2015, up 188 per cent from a year earlier, according to a filing in January. It ranked eighth among mainland brokerages by assets at the end of 2014, according to industry association figures.

根据今年1月份提交的一份文件，这家在深圳上市的券商2015年的净利润为142亿元人民币，同比增长1.88倍。根据行业协会给出的数据，2014年底该公司在内地券商中资产规模排第八位。

Like other Chinese securities companies, Guosen benefited from a surge in stock trading commissions during China’s equity market roller coaster last year. But its offshore unit, Guosen Securities (HK) Financial Holdings, has struggled to gain a foothold in Hong Kong’s capital markets, where foreign and mainland banks compete on a more level playing field.

和其他中国券商类似，去年股市上演过山车行情时，股票交易委托量的激增曾令国信证券受益匪浅。不过，在外资银行和内地银行竞争环境更公平的香港资本市场，该公司的境外部门国信证券（香港）金融控股有限公司(Guosen Securities (HK) Financial Holdings)却很难站稳脚跟。

A special purpose vehicle owned by Guosen (HK) issued the bonds in April 2014 at an interest rate of 6.4 per cent.

这批债券是2014年4月，由国信证券（香港）旗下一个特设目的公司(Special Purpose Vehicle)以6.4%的利率发行的。

State media reported in 2011 that Guosen HK had doubled its staff in Hong Kong to 200 that year after hiring HSBC veteran Chen Gang to head its investment banking division. The company hoped to help mainland companies looking to tap the Hong Kong capital markets.

2011年，官媒曾报道称，在聘请汇丰银行(HSBC)资深人士陈刚(Chen Gang，音译)担任其投行部门主管后，国信证券（香港）当年把在香港的员工增加了一倍。该公司希望能帮助那些寻求开发香港资本市场的中国内地企业。

The dim sum bond market emerged around 2010 as China moved to encourage international use of its currency. With renminbi accumulating in Hong Kong and other offshore financial hubs, Chinese and foreign issuers took advantage of interest rates typically lower than those available in China’s onshore debt market. Last year, dim sum issuance slumped to less than Rmb6bn after hitting a record Rmb33bn in 2014.

点心债市场是在2010年左右中国着手鼓励国际社会使用人民币的背景下出现的。在人民币汇集到香港及其他境外金融中心之际，中外发行商享受到了通常低于中国境内债券市场的利率。在2014年达到创纪录的330亿元人民币的发行规模之后，去年点心债券的发行规模下滑至不到60亿元人民币。

After years in which investors reliably assumed that China’s government would not permit any corporate default, missed payments have become more common in both the onshore and offshore bond markets, but SOE defaults remain rare.

有好几年投资者都确信无疑地认为，中国政府不会容忍任何企业违约。然而在那之后，不论在境内还是境外债券市场，未能及时偿付的现象已变得更加常见，不过国企违约的现象依然十分罕见。

Baoding Tianwei, a manufacturer of electric transformers, became the first SOE to default on a domestic bond last April.

去年4月，变压器生产商保定天威集团(Baoding Tianwei Group)成为首家在境内债券上违约的国企。

In the offshore market, companies including LDK Solar and property developer Kaisa Group have defaulted in recent years, but neither an SOE nor any Chinese financial institution has defaulted since the collapse of Guangdong International Trust and Investment in 1999.

在境外市场，包括赛维LDK(LDK Solar)和房地产开发商佳兆业(Kaisa Group)在内的企业曾在近几年发生违约。不过，自1999年广东国际信托投资公司(Guangdong International Trust and Investment Corp)破产以来，从未有国企或任何中国金融机构发生违约。

Bank of New York Mellon’s Hong Kong branch, which serves as trustee for the bond, warned Guosen’s bondholders that a provision of the so-called keepwell deed associated with the Guosen bond “is not in full force and effect, which constitutes an Event of Default”, according to the document dated March 23.

根据这份日期为3月23日的文件，该债券的受托方、纽约梅隆银行(Bank of New York Mellon)香港分行警告国信债券的持有者，与国信的债券伴随的所谓维持良好运营协议(keepwell deed，简称维好协议)的条款“并非完全有效，这构成了违约事项(Event of Default)”。

Chinese companies have used keepwell structures in offshore bond sales as a way to provide a degree of security to foreign investors. Until mid-2014, China’s foreign exchange regulator forbade onshore companies from issuing direct guarantees of offshore debt.

在境外债券销售过程中，中国企业一直把维好协议机制作为向外国投资者提供一定程度安全保障的一种方式。直至2014年中期以前，中国外汇监管机构一直禁止中国境内企业发行对境外债券的直接担保，

“Keepwell deeds are not guarantees and are subject to much greater legal and regulatory uncertainty than compared to guarantees,” Gary Lau, managing director at ratings agency Moody’s, warned in 2014.

评级机构穆迪(Moody's)董事总经理刘长浩(Gary Lau)曾在2014年警告称：“维好协议并非担保，与担保相比，它在法律和监管方面的不确定性大得多。”

Most Chinese offshore bonds are issued through tax-haven-domiciled SPVs, leaving investors with little recourse to onshore assets. It isn’t clear which provision of the keepwell deed, which was agreed by Guosen’s onshore parent, had been violated.

多数中国境外债券是通过注册地点位于避税天堂的特设目的公司(SPV)发行的，这令投资者没法得到中国境内资产的援手。在国信境内母公司批准通过的维好协议中，具体违反了哪个条款目前仍不清楚。

Shares in Guosen Securities rose 3.4 per cent in Shenzhen on Wednesday.

周三，国信证券在深市的股票上涨了3.4%。

Guosen Securities (HK) Financial Holdings and Guosen Securities could not be immediately reached for comment.

记者无法立即与国信证券（香港）金融控股和国信证券取得联系，以置评此事。