Foreign investment in China’s vast domestic bond market has soared, making the country an outlier amid the bond rout roiling other emerging markets.

China took landmark steps from 2016 to open its bond market — the world’s third largest behind the US and Japan — but foreign investors were initially wary. The opening measures occurred during a period of renminbi depreciation, when Chinese regulators were also clamping down on capital outflows. That raised fears that foreigners, once in the market, could find themselves unable to exit.

Those concerns have faded. The renminbi has stabilised, capital flight has subsided and regulators have grown more relaxed about permitting outflows. That has allowed investors to refocus on the attractive yields available on Chinese debt.