Central bank, HK monetary authority sign cooperation memo
( 2003-11-19 21:31) (Xinhua)
Governor Zhou Xiaochuan of
the People's Bank of China (PBOC), China's central bank, and Chief Executive of
the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) Joseph Yam signed Wednesday a
cooperation memorandum for conducting renminbi (RMB) business in Hong Kong.
With the approval of the State Council, banks in Hong Kong will be able to
conduct RMB business in four areas including deposit, renminbi yuan-HK dollar
exchange, cash remittance and credit card services.
The PBOC has announced it will provide clearing arrangements for Hong Kong
banks so as to facilitate economic and personnel exchanges between the mainland
and Hong Kong and direct the orderly circumfluence of RMB in Hong Kong.
The PBOC and HKMA will choose a qualified Hong Kong listing bank as clearing
bank for personal RMB service. Under this RMB business scheme, participating
Hong Kong banks will, after setting aside appropriate amounts of funds for
meeting withdrawals, place the RMB funds absorbed from their depositors with the
clearing bank for providing RMB clearing services in Hong Kong.
Such a clearing arrangement provided by the PBOB is confined to transactions
that facilitate personal spending and do not involve investment and other
capital account transactions.
Chinese Vice Premier Huang Ju, present at the signing ceremony, met with Hong
Kong Financial Secretary Henry Tang and a Hong Kong bank consortia delegation
before the ceremony.
The opening of RMB services in Hong Kong is a big event in mainland-Hong Kong
financial cooperation, Huang said, expressing hope that the financial
departments in the two areas will carry out close cooperation to guarantee the
smooth process of such service.
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