HONG KONG — China's top insurers increased their bond portfolios by a total of more than 1.2 trillion yuan ($169 billion) in the first half of the year, underscoring a strong appetite for safe assets despite the central bank's efforts. to cool down the government bond buying frenzy.
On Friday, the PBOC said it had traded Treasuries in August, buying short-term bonds and selling long-term bonds to primary dealers in the open market. Its first known foray into bond trading in decades resulted in net buying of 100 billion yuan in August, it said.