HONG KONG, April 29 Reuters A record 1.8 trillion worth of bonds are set to mature in Asia this year, data shows, leading to a rush to refinance them in the coming months.

Most of the maturing bonds in Asia are from China, South Korea, Australia and India and the region dwarfs Europe and the United States in terms of the total, the data from Refinitiv showed.

The refinancing surge is set to bring a fee bonanza to banks, even though investors are viewing bonds from China with caution after some issuers defaulted, and as risk is growing in markets such as India due to a resurgence of COVID19 cases.

The 1.8 trillion maturing debt includes dollar bonds of 283.4 billion, also the highest on record, the data showed.

Record low interest rates and easy global liquidity have led to increased activity in Asias debt markets this year, but bankers said new issuance for fresh spending may start to taper.

A lot of the issuers who have come to the market have already done so, hence incremental volume from new issuers and existing borrowers who want to raise money will be more modest over time, said Kenwei Wong, head of Asia Pacific fixed income syndicate at Barclays.

In South Korea, 18.8 billion worth of bonds have been issued so far in 2021, nearly double the same period a year ago and triple the level of activity in 2019, Dealogic data showed.

Green and sustainable bonds issued this year in the Asian nation have been worth 6.4 billion, a near fivefold increase over the same…