Corporate bonds refer to loan certificates issued by joint-stock companies for additional capital within a certain period of time (such as 10 or 20 years).
For the holder, it is only a voucher to provide loans to the company, reflecting only an ordinary creditor-debtor relationship. Although the holder has no right to participate in the operation and management activities of the joint-stock company, he can charge the company fixed interest at par value every year, and the order of collecting interest should take precedence over shareholders' dividends. When the joint-stock company goes bankrupt, he can also get back the principal first. Corporate bonds have a long term, generally more than 10 years. Once the bond expires, the joint-stock company must repay the principal and redeem the bond.