On Sept. 24 Bond Connect Southbound marked its fifth anniversary. Custodial
holdings of Southbound infrastructure bonds rose to about 1 trillion yuan by
end-August 2026, versus below 10 billion yuan at end-September 2021, roughly a
100-fold increase over five years. After an expansion of participating
institutions in July 2025, domestic institutional participation surged;
custodial holdings nearly doubled between end-July 2025 and end-August 2026.