July 4 (NBD) -- LONGi Green Energy Technology Co Ltd (LONGi, 601012.SH) announced Monday its plan to issue 3 billion yuan (450 million U.S. dollars) worth of perpetual bond and the same amount of short-term financing bond.

Moreover, LONGi's six subsidiaries including Xi'an-based LONGi New Energy (Xi'an LONGi) agreed to sell distributed photovoltaic (PV) power assets to Zhejiang Chint Electrics Co., Ltd. (601877.SH) for 703 million yuan (106 million U.S. dollars).

The two moves have sparked heated discussions among investors.

Xi'an LONGi's total assets have reduced sharply to 1.562 billion yuan (235 million U.S. dollars) as of the first quarter of 2018, after continuous expansion over the past several years.

The market connected LONGi's move to issue bonds and sell assets with new policies on PV industry enacted in May this year.

However, a source at the office of company secretary of LONGi told NBD in an interview that the decision to issue bonds is not related to the new policies, but a normal financing activity.

When asked about the reason to sell PV power assets, the source said LONGi adopts an asset-light business mode, under which the company, instead of holding completed PV power stations for a long term, will sell them and start developing new ones.

Email: tanyuhan@nbd.com.cn