LCQ17: Promoting Hong Kong's integration into national development of Belt and Road Initiative
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Question:
The National 15th Five-Year Plan further strengthens Hong Kong's functions as an international financial, shipping, trade centre, a global offshore Renminbi (RMB) business hub, an international asset and wealth management centre, an international risk management centre, etc, while the Belt and Road Office (the Office) plays a crucial role in promoting Hong Kong's integration into the national development of the Belt and Road Initiative, particularly in promoting our country's initiatives for internationalisation of the RMB by leveraging Hong Kong's traditional strengths. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) according to the information provided by the Government in reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on the Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 2025-2026, as at February 28, 2025, the staff establishment of the Office was 19 and the strength was 17; whether the authorities will adjust the Office's staffing level, its work strategies and objectives in response to the need to align with the National 15th Five-Year Plan; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2) of the Office's specific future work plan in place to promote the wider use of the RMB by the Belt and Road countries for transaction and settlement in infrastructure projects and commodity trade to promote the internationalisation of the RMB; of the number of collaboration agreements concluded with the Belt and Road countries by the Office over the past three years, and among which, the respective distribution of the countries involved and the categories of commodities covered;
(3) of the number of economies where importers and exporters settle their trade in the RMB through Hong Kong's payment system, and the total volume of trade involved; of the specific measures put in place by the Office to encourage more economies to settle their trade in the RMB through Hong Kong's payment system;
(4) given the three successful offerings of sukuk by the Government under the Government Bond Programme, of the authorities' latest plans to attract the Belt and Road countries to issue bonds in Hong Kong;
(5) as there are views that the existing thematic web page of the Office is available in Chinese and English only, which causes inconvenience to people who use other languages, whether the Office will draw reference from our country's practices of developing the relevant websites and create additional versions of its web page in multiple languages (such as French, Russian, Spanish, and Arabic), so that people from the Belt and Road partner countries can access the information of Hong Kong more easily; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(6) whether the authorities have plans to co-ordinate the relevant policy bureaux and departments through the Office to expeditiously review the contents of their respective web pages and information, and provide additional simplified versions of introduction concerning the Belt and Road Initiative in multiple languages as mentioned above, with a view to enhancing promotional effect; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has been adopting a whole government strategic approach, under which the Belt and Road Office (BRO) of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau is tasked to lead and co-ordinate Hong Kong's work on deep participation in and contribution to the Belt and Road Initiative (B&RI), with a view to promoting all-round and multi-field connectivity. Policies and measures related to promoting Renminbi (RMB) internationalisation (including encouraging wider use of the RMB in Belt and Road (B&R) countries) and sukuk are under the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB)'s purview.
The National 15th Five‑Year Plan has called for advancing the RMB internationalisation and pursuing greater openness of the RMB capital accounts. We will leverage Hong Kong's unique strengths and proactively align with national development strategies to strengthen Hong Kong's function as a global offshore RMB business hub while promoting the progress of the RMB internationalisation, including actively promoting offshore RMB business in the B&R regions and other emerging markets.
Having consulted the FSTB and the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau (CMAB), the consolidated reply to the question raised by the Hon Chu Lap-wai is as follows:
(1) The HKSAR Government is formulating the first Hong Kong five-year plan at full speed, with a view to providing clear guidance for Hong Kong's socio-economic and livelihood developments for the coming five years, and align with the 15th Five-Year Plan, driving Hong Kong's deeper integration into and contribution to the overall national development. The formulation of the Hong Kong five-year plan is led by the Chief Executive and responsible by the CMAB, and each policy bureau would establish its working group to take forward the work, which is expected to be completed this year.
Relevant bureaux/departments will suitably align with the 15th Five-Year Plan, including the parts related to the B&RI. Currently, we do not have plans to adjust the manpower of the BRO for the work of aligning with the 15th Five-Year Plan, but we will review the manpower and resources arrangements from time to time in accordance with the office's work strategy and targets.
(2) and (3) Hong Kong currently processes about 75 per cent of global offshore RMB payments, and has the largest offshore pool of RMB funds. As at end-2025, the RMB deposits (including outstanding Certificates of Deposit) in Hong Kong was about RMB1.1 trillion, providing liquidity support to offshore RMB trading and financial activities globally including B&R regions. The average daily turnover of Hong Kong's RMB Real Time Gross Settlement System was about RMB2.5 trillion in 2025, remaining at a high level, reflecting continuously active RMB financial activities supported by Hong Kong's RMB financial infrastructure. We do not have information of the number of economies with importers and exporters currently using the Hong Kong payment system for the RMB trade settlement, and the trading volume involved.
In terms of promoting the broader use of the RMB for trade settlement within the B&R regions, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) introduced the RMB Trade Financing Liquidity Facility (TFLF) in February 2025. The facility offers banks a relatively stable source of RMB funding for their provision of trade finance-related services to corporate customers. To enhance the liquidity and global reach (including B&R regions) of the offshore RMB market in Hong Kong, the HKMA introduced the RMB Business Facility (RBF) in October 2025, which replaced the RMB TFLF, featuring multiple enhancements such as providing corporates with the longer-term RMB financing required for trade, daily operations and capital expenditures, so as to support the use of the RMB in the real economy. Eligible end-users have also been extended from corporate clients of participating banks to cover also corporate clients of the participating banks' overseas intragroup banking entities. From February 2, 2026, the total size of the RBF was increased from RMB100 billion to RMB200 billion to support banking institutions in facilitating the wider use of the RMB by their corporate clients. The HKMA will continue to monitor the implementation of the RBF, including quota utilisation by participating banks, collect market feedback, and consider further enhancements with the support of the People's Bank of China if and as appropriate.
In terms of commodity trading, with the progress of the RMB internationalisation, the influence of the RMB in the commodities market is gradually increasing. At the same time, the Mainland is one of the leading commodity consumers in the world. With our country's strong support, Hong Kong has the potential to continue optimising product development and infrastructure and strive to become a major cross-boundary commodity market. The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) has launched a series of commodity futures products settled in the RMB, covering metal types such as gold, silver, aluminium, zinc, copper, nickel, tin and lead, as well as RMB-denominated gold exchange-traded funds. The Shanghai Gold Exchange also listed RMB-denominated gold contracts for delivery in Hong Kong on its International Board in 2025. On the other hand, the London Metal Exchange and Qianhai Mercantile Exchange, both a subsidiary of the HKEX, operate the world's largest base metals exchange and our country's only offshore spot trading platform for soybeans respectively, laying the foundation for the expansion of RMB-denominated commodity products, channelling the RMB's vitality in the currency market to the commodity market and promoting the RMB internationalisation. We will also establish the Hong Kong central clearing system for gold to provide efficient and reliable clearing services for transactions of gold in compliance with international standards.
Regarding the co-operation with B&R countries mentioned in the question, the HKSAR Government and financial regulators have been actively promoting co-operation with B&R regions in various financial areas. For example, in September 2023, the FSTB signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Emirate of Dubai to strengthen bilateral relations and co-operation, and to promote the mutual development of the financial services sectors of both places. In August 2024, the Chief Executive led a delegation to visit Vietnam, during which the HKSAR Government also signed a MOU with the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam to enhance communication and knowledge exchange between Hong Kong and Vietnam in the field of financial services. In December 2024, the HKMA signed a MOU with the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), agreeing to establish connectivity of the debt capital markets and the related financial market infrastructures between Hong Kong and the UAE, with a view to facilitating cross-border debt securities issuance and investment activities. In September 2025, the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong signed a MOU with the Securities and Commodities Authority of the UAE to expand cross-border market access for public funds under a Mutual Recognition of Funds arrangement, marking a new milestone in advancing Hong Kong-UAE market connectivity.
(4) In 2014, 2015 and 2017, three sukuk of different structures and tenors totalling US$3 billion were issued under the Government Bond Programme. Below are the highlights of the three Government issuances of sukuk:
| Issue date | September 2014 | June 2015 | February 2017 |
| Structure | Ijarah | Wakalah | Wakalah |
| Issuance size | US$1 billion | US$1 billion | US$1 billion |
| Subscription amount | US$4.7 billion | US$2 billion | US$1.72 billion |
| Tenor | 5 years | 5 years | 10 years |
| Yield | 2.005% (23 basis points over 5-year US Treasuries) | 1.894% (35 basis points over 5-year US Treasuries) | 3.132% (68 basis points over 10-year US Treasuries) |
| Listings | Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Bursa Malaysia and Nasdaq Dubai | ||
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Also, we are actively developing emerging markets such as the Middle East and other B&R markets. Some sovereign and quasi-sovereign entities, such as the Indonesian Government and the Development Bank of Kazakhstan, issued offshore RMB bonds in Hong Kong for the first time in 2025. In February 2026, the Indonesian Government issued bonds (including offshore RMB bonds) in Hong Kong again. Multilateral development banks such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Asian Development Bank have also been issuing offshore RMB bonds in Hong Kong. These developments underscore Hong Kong's growing appeal as a leading hub for offshore RMB bond issuance. We will strengthen our promotional efforts through delegation visits, conferences, roadshows, etc, to actively highlight the advantages of Hong Kong's offshore RMB services to the international market.
Meanwhile, the HKMA is actively promoting the strengths of Hong Kong's financial system and market through market development efforts, with a view to further strengthening co-operation with sukuk issuers and investors. For example, on March 30, 2026, the HKMA and the Islamic Development Bank co-hosted a sukuk seminar in Hong Kong, attracting over 200 participants to discuss the development of the sukuk market and explore the role of Hong Kong's debt raising platform.
(5) and (6) The BRO is currently conducting a revamp on the "Belt and Road Initiative．Hong Kong" thematic website to enhance and optimise the website design and enrich its content, with a view to disseminating information about the B&RI to different stakeholders more effectively. During the revamp of the website, we will study and consider the suggestion to add other languages to the website.
Ends/Wednesday, April 22, 2026
Issued at HKT 19:15
Issued at HKT 19:15
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