(Original title: Li Dazhi, Vice President of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority: Will expand the scope of cross-border Wealth Management Connect eligible products to promote cross-border applications of digital renminbi)
Financial Associated Press, December 9th (Reporter Wang Hong)At the 4th Bund Financial Summit today, Li Dazhi, vice president of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, said that there is still room for improvement in the openness of the mainland financial market and the facilitation of business operations. Hong Kong will continue to leverage its advantages to further deepen the interconnection between the mainland and Hong Kong financial markets.
Li Dazhi said that in terms of current account facilitation, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority will maintain communication with the industry to understand the needs of banks and corporate customers, ensure the sustainable development of related businesses in the ever-changing market, and further promote the RMB Application in cross-border real economic activities.
Li Dazhi said that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority will continue to optimize various interconnection mechanisms, such as adding RMB stock trading counters in Hong Kong Stock Connect, expanding the scope of eligible products for cross-border wealth management connect, and promoting the construction of Insurance Connect. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority will continue to explore providing more offshore risk management tools for foreign investors, and promote the further opening up of the onshore derivatives market, so that international investors have more confidence in holding RMB assets for a long time.
Li Dazhi also said that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority will continue to improve its financial infrastructure and promote Bond Connect’s access to the bond market of mainland exchanges; establish cross-border networking with securities custody platforms in more regions to strengthen the connection between the mainland and international markets; The standing currency swap agreement with the People’s Bank of China optimizes the offshore RMB liquidity arrangement and improves the operating efficiency of the RMB RTGS system.
In addition, Li Dazhi pointed out that the Monetary Authority will continue to promote the multilateral central bank digital currency bridge (mBridge) project to promote the cross-border application of digital renminbi. mBridge is the largest cross-border central bank digital currency pilot so far, and it is expected to provide low-cost and fast payment channels for international trade settlement. In the long run, it will help deepen the cross-border two-way flow of capital and facilitate the process of RMB internationalization.
In terms of promoting the mechanism arrangement of the mainland market to be in line with international standards, Li Dazhi said that the implementation of the swap link will help to further promote the application of the ISDA master agreement in the mainland and promote the optimization of the mainland derivatives delivery and clearing mechanism. In addition, foreign investors’ recognition of mainland credit bonds needs to be improved. Hong Kong can actively promote the integration of the mainland credit bond and related derivatives markets with international standards. For example, Hong Kong has a relatively complete regulatory mechanism for rating agencies and a relatively mature credit event handling system, which can provide reference for the establishment of relevant regulations in the Mainland and enhance the international recognition of the Mainland market.
According to reports, Hong Kong has been a reliable testing ground for the mainland’s financial opening-up for many years. In the initial stage of RMB internationalization, various RMB settlement services were first tried in Hong Kong. As the first batch of QFII and RQFII investors, Hong Kong institutions took the lead in introducing more overseas long-term funds to the mainland financial market. The interconnection mechanism of the financial markets of the two places has helped mainland stocks and bonds to be included in major international indexes. Hong Kong institutions assist mainland provincial and municipal governments and other high-quality bond issuers to raise funds in the offshore market, promote the development of the country’s real economy, and enrich offshore RMB bond products. Hong Kong also plays a key role in improving the offshore RMB financial infrastructure and enhancing the efficiency and security of RMB cross-border business.
Li Dazhi said that Hong Kong’s unique advantages are familiarity with the mainland and international integration. Hong Kong has also been playing the role of my country’s reference to international market experience and deepening financial reform. As an international financial center and offshore RMB center, Hong Kong will continue to promote the coordinated development of the capital markets of the two places, deepen the interconnection of domestic and overseas markets, and strengthen the role of “testing ground” and “firewall”.