A deep and liquid pan-Asian bondmarket is the obvious solution to the mismatches of bonds' maturity and currency within the region, Andrew Sheng, chairman of Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (HKSFC) said here Thursday.

Speaking at the 2nd annual Asia Pacific Bond Congress, he said while Asian official reserves have reached nearly 2 trillion US dollars, Asian bond market is still underdeveloped.

In the corporate area, the corporate debt market in Asia is less than 10 percent of GDP on average, compared to over 20 percent in the United States and 40 percent in Germany.

He attributed the reason to regional competition for the role of the regional hub and regulatory difference, and urged a regulatory convergence of standards across Asia to facilitate market integration so as to build up a pan-Asian bond market.

Sheng said the way forward for the market is for the regulatorsto work closely together to ensure that the rules of game, the infrastructure and the institutional framework come together to level the playing field, reduce transactions cost and improve transparency.

"HKSFC is fully committed to working with the industry and our fellow regulators in Asia to develop the bond markets in Asia," hesaid.

Source: Xinhua