China buys €400m of Spanish bonds

China bought up to €400m of Spanish 10-year bonds last week as Asian investors returned to the peripheral eurozone markets.

The world's largest foreign exchange holder, China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange placed an order of €1bn after demand rose to €14.5bn in just a few hours last Tuesday, The Financial Times reports. Of the €6bn raised, two-thirds were bought by international investors, of which 14% came from Asia. In a similar 10-year deal in January, Spain sold just 5% to Asian investors. Meanwhile, troubled eurozone state Greece dropped plans to refinance 12-month government debt on fears investors would demand exceptionally high yields. It will instead only auction six-month treasury ...