Hong Kong seeks to hone edge as offshore yuan hub, digital-asset front runner
Market participants largely welcome Paul Chan’s renewed push to strengthen Hong Kong’s position as an international financial centre
The initiative comes as Beijing deepens its high-standard opening-up drive amid accelerating de-dollarisation and growing investor demand for alternative assets. With China aiming to become a global financial powerhouse, Hong Kong is seeking to stay ahead by leveraging its role in handling more than 75 per cent of offshore yuan settlements and by making yuan-denominated investment products a key priority.
Chan said Hong Kong would issue yuan-denominated bonds of varying tenors regularly to enrich product offerings in the offshore yuan market and improve the yield curve. It will also seek to attract “high-quality issuers” to offer yuan notes in Hong Kong while tapping into emerging markets to bring more cross-boundary yuan transactions to the city.