On July 4, Bond Connect Company Limited (BCCL) and China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS) jointly launched the Northbound primary service for China Interbank Bond Market (CIBM). The service allows offshore investors to participate in the Northbound subscription of CIBM new issuances with onshore underwriters through the connectivity between BCCL's ePrime, a one-stop electronic platform for bond primary deals in the offshore market, and the Bond Issuance, Underwriting and Distribution system of CFETS (iDeal).

The service received overwhelming response in the first week, attracting 41 pioneer offshore investors. Among them, 27 offshore investors have completed their first deals and brought the total subscription amount to 1.24 billion RMB. The subject bonds include China government bond, policy financial bonds, green financial bond, and super and short-term commercial papers etc.

In collaboration with CFETS and launched in 2020, ePrime is an electronic solution for the primary bond market across the issuers, underwriters and investors specialized in the China cross-border workflow. It has two components to cater issuance and subscription applications: ePrime global issuance service and ePrime Northbound primary service. ePrime global issuance service offers a platform for issuing, primary book building, pricing and allocation for offshore securities including US dollar-denominated bonds, Renminbi bonds, Hong Kong dollar bonds and other currencies. It has successfully supported various issuances from policy banks and commercial banks and onboarded 29 offshore underwriters. ePrime Northbound primary service allows offshore investors to participate in the Northbound subscription of CIBM new issuances by establishing connectivity with CFETS systems.