Advertisement
Hong Kong economy
OpinionHong Kong Opinion
Matteo Giovannini
Opinion
Matteo Giovannini

Connect scheme for gold shines light on China’s financial liberalisation

The Connect model has evolved from isolated reforms into a blueprint for China’s financial opening up, with Hong Kong as the bridgehead

3-MIN READ3-MIN
Listen
Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People’s Bank of China, delivers a keynote speech at the Hong Kong FIC & Bond Connect Summit at JW Marriott Hotel in Admiralty on July 7. Photo: Sun Yeung
Matteo Giovannini
Matteo Giovannini is a finance professional with extensive experience in private and state-owned enterprises, specialising in Asian markets and cross-border project financing.
When Hong Kong launched its latest Connect programme on July 7, most of the attention focused on gold. That misses the bigger story. Delivery Connect, part of the city’s new gold clearing and settlement system, is not simply another financial initiative but the latest evidence that Beijing has settled on a distinctive model for opening up China’s financial markets.

Rather than embracing wholesale financial liberalisation, China is steadily integrating with global markets through carefully designed cross-border channels, with Hong Kong serving as the indispensable bridge. Delivery Connect shows the Connect model has evolved from a series of isolated reforms into the blueprint for China’s financial opening-up.

It marks a significant departure from the path followed by many emerging economies over the past three decades. Financial liberalisation was once associated with sweeping deregulation, rapid capital account opening and unrestricted capital flows. China has consistently rejected that model.

Instead, it has expanded market access incrementally while maintaining oversight of capital movements and financial risks. Hong Kong has become the testing ground where this distinctly Chinese approach is designed, refined and scaled.

Select Voice
Select Speed
1x
AI-generated voice