What drives liquidity in the Chinese credit bond markets?

Abstract

We study the drivers and pricing of liquidity in the Chinese credit bond markets. We document that the liquidity and liquidity effects priced into yield spreads differ significantly across the four major credit bond categories and the two parallel trading venues: the interbank over-the-counter and exchange markets. We analyze the levels of liquidity and the pricing of liquidity effects into credit bond yield spreads using three counterfactuals: a collateral shock to repo eligibility, a crackdown on agent-holding activities, and four liberalization shocks on foreign investment. We identify the bond risk and macroeconomic channels as significant influences on liquidity effects but not the information channel. Our empirical findings are robust to a battery of tests.