SHANGHAI, Feb 5 (Reuters) - China's bond market regulator said it will actively support debt financing and debt issuance by companies heavily affected by a fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak.
The National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (NAFMII) said it will also support the companies who have participated in containing the spread of the virus, according to a statement published on the central bank's official WeChat account on Wednesday.
NAFMII is backed by the People's Bank of China (PBOC).
The association also said it will allow virus-hit firms to issue bonds and raise funds via other instruments including asset-backed notes (ABN).
In addition, the association encouraged a lenient approach in debt repayments for firms affected by the epidemic. (Reporting by Winni Zhou and Brenda Goh in Shanghai and Kevin Yao in Beijing Editing by Shri Navaratnam)