China forex regulator vows support for Hong Kong as financial hub
State Administration of Foreign Exchange Deputy Director Li Hongyan says supporting Hong Kong's international financial centre is a key task, with measures including cross-border investment and yuan internationalisation. New QDII quotas of US$12.14 billion were issued this year, with Hong Kong asset
China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) Deputy Director Li Hongyan said supporting the construction of Hong Kong as an international financial centre is a key task for the regulator, speaking at the International Financial Leaders Investment Summit in Hong Kong.
Li said SAFE has taken multiple measures in recent years to boost Hong Kong's high-quality development, including promoting financial market connectivity between the mainland and Hong Kong, and supporting the city's role as a global offshore renminbi hub. The authority has steadily issued quotas under the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) scheme, with US$12.14 billion in new investment quotas issued so far this year, bringing cumulative issuance to over US$183 billion. Hong Kong market assets account for about one-third of the total. National foreign exchange reserves also make full use of Hong Kong's role as a hub connecting global markets, channelling investments worldwide.
Li said SAFE will coordinate capital account opening and renminbi internationalisation, building a more convenient, more open and safer foreign exchange management system. It will work with the Hong Kong government and financial authorities to further consolidate and develop the city as an international financial centre. The regulator recently sought opinions on a package of policies, including optimising cross-border investment and financing facilitation, which will support enterprises in better participating in international economic and trade cooperation and inject new vitality into Hong Kong's financial centre development.
SAFE has also strengthened corporate cross-border investment and financing reforms, and actively supported foreign exchange management innovation policies to be first implemented in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Together with the People's Bank of China, it is exploring a framework for multinational companies' fund pools, and recently extended the cross-border centralised management of multinational companies' domestic and foreign currency cash pools to the whole country. This makes it more convenient for enterprises to use foreign exchange, promotes economic and trade exchanges between the mainland and Hong Kong, and strengthens the integration of foreign exchange policies on trade, investment and financing.
Li noted that in the first three quarters of this year, imports and exports between the mainland and Hong Kong exceeded US$400 billion, an increase of 55.6 per cent year-on-year, reflecting closer trade ties. She added that this year marks the 30th anniversary of China achieving current account convertibility. The authority has orderly advanced capital account opening, providing strong support for the country's deep integration into the world economy and for Hong Kong's prosperity and stable development.