Pakistan has tapped into China's vast and growing financial system through its inaugural Panda Bond, opening a new low-cost funding channel with fewer political strings attached that policymakers and analysts believe could help diversify the country's external financing sources beyond traditional dollar- and euro-denominated borrowing. The RMB1.75 billion ($250 million) sovereign bond, issued in China's domestic bond market at a coupon rate of 2.5%, marks Pakistan's first entry into the Chinese onshore capital market and represents one of the cheapest international borrowings secured by the country in recent years. [...]