China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. or Sinopec, said Monday it plans to issue 3.5 billion yuan in corporate bonds, with the proceeds to be used for pipeline construction and technical upgrading.

In a statement, China's largest crude oil refiner said its maiden yuan bonds will have a maturity of either 15 or 20 years.

Sinopec has submitted its bond plan to the National Development and Reform Commission as well as the State Council for approval.

Its shareholders are scheduled to meet Oct. 15 to approve the bond sale.

Sinopec said its board has decided to pursue a bond program as this is a cheaper source of funds than bank loans or equity financing.

According to the company's own preliminary estimates, a 15-year fixed-rate Sinopec bond could fetch an annual interest rate of between 4.14% and 4.34%. It estimates the likely annual rate on a 20-year Sinopec bond at between 4.29% and 4.49%. The People's Bank of China will approve the final coupon.

By comparison, benchmark bank lending rates are 5.49% for one-to-three year loans, 5.58% for three-to-five year loans, and 5.76% for loans with maturity of more than five years.

Sinopec is one of a few large-sized domestic corporations, including Huaneng Power International (HNP), seeking to sell bonds to cash-rich Chinese investors who still have very limited investment options.

Sinopec said the bond issue would increase its debt to asset ratio to 54.1% from the present 53.7%, based on domestic accounting standards, or to 53.0% from 52.5% based on international accounting standards.

Sinopec said Sunday its first-half net profit surged to CNY9.77 billion from CNY4.50 billion a year earlier, according to domestic accounting standards, boosted by higher crude oil prices.

Core revenue in the six months ended June increased to CNY194.84 billion from CNY140.63 billion in the year-earlier period.

Under international accounting standards, first-half net profit rose to CNY10.70 billion from CNY5.43 billion.

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