Hong Kong, CSRC deepen financial ties ahead of first yuan bond futures launch

Hong Kong’s leader has met the head of mainland China’s securities regulator to discuss deepening links between the two financial markets ahead of the launch of the city’s first yuan-denominated bond futures.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Sunday evening that he met China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) chairman Wu Qing at Government House in Central to exchange views on deepening mutual access between the financial markets in Hong Kong and the mainland.

The high-level meeting with the CSRC delegation took place ahead of the debut on Monday of China’s first yuan-denominated five-year bond futures on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Lee said the launch of the first of its kind of product in the city would provide an “effective” offshore risk management tool and help attract international investors to the mainland bond market and to hold Chinese treasury bonds on a long-term basis.

“This is a key step in enhancing the RMB [renminbi] product ecosystem, and further consolidates Hong Kong’s status as the world’s offshore RMB business hub,” he said.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, the Acting Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Joseph Chan Ho-lim, the chairman of Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong, Kelvin Wong Tin-yau, and SFC CEO Julia Leung Fung-yee were present at the meeting.