The city is already recognized as the world’s leading offshore yuan business hub, boasting the largest offshore liquidity pool, foreign-exchange market, and over-the-counter interest-rate derivatives market, as stated by Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Joseph Chan Ho-lim on Tuesday.
By the end of last year, yuan deposits in Hong Kong reached 1.1 trillion yuan (US$151 billion), facilitating an increase in global offshore transactions and financial activities, Chan noted during a forum held by Bank of China (Hong Kong).
“Hong Kong’s role as [mainland China’s] international financial centre in advancing the internationalisation of the yuan is essential,” he added.
The growth of Hong Kong’s offshore yuan liquidity has been supported by Beijing through various policy measures and bond issuances. The Ministry of Finance has issued offshore yuan bonds in Hong Kong for 17 years in a row, amassing a total of 366 billion yuan by the end of last year.
The ministry plans to issue an additional 12.5 billion yuan in debt on Wednesday, which will include tranches with tenors of two, three, five, ten, and thirty years.
