Hong Kong to Boost Yuan Hub Status with New Measures Next Month

As Hong Kong marks the 29th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule on July 1, the South China Morning Post talks to the city’s senior officials about the administration’s achievements so far and what may lie ahead.

Authorities are expected to roll out measures to strengthen Hong Kong’s role as an offshore Chinese yuan hub next month, the finance chief has revealed, with the government pushing to increase the number of listed firms trading stocks in renminbi.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po also defended the city’s international financial centre status amid criticism of a heavy reliance on mainland Chinese initial public offerings (IPO), saying it was a strength rather than a weakness that the city served as a gateway for such overseas expansion.

Chan highlighted the need to enrich yuan investment products, noting there was “room” for increasing the city’s offshore yuan liquidity pool despite it being the world’s largest, with deposits of about 1 trillion yuan (US$145 billion).

He cited the Hong Kong dollar-yuan dual-counter model as an example, which allows investors to trade the shares of a city-listed company in either local dollars or renminbi.

“We are working on the possibility of expanding it, but of course this is subject to discussion with the relevant authorities on the mainland,” he said. “But it is always our target to expand the product offering, to expand that counter.”