HK accelerates inclusion of yuan counters in Stock Connect program: SFC CEO

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is engaged in active cooperation with financial regulators in the Chinese mainland to carry forward the inclusion of the yuan counter into the Hong Kong and mainland Stock Connect program, with relevant technical preparations progressing smoothly and details expected to be released in the near term, Julia Leung, chief executive officer of the SFC, said on Tuesday.

"We expect that more enterprises will consider listing under the yuan counter after getting a clear timeline. Driven by southbound capital, yuan-denominated trading in the Hong Kong stock market is expected to grow steadily," Leung said in a speech delivered at the Bond Connect Anniversary Summit 2025 in Hong Kong, according to local media outlet RTHK.

Given that mainland companies account for about 90 percent of new IPOs in the Hong Kong market, the introduction of yuan counters in the Stock Connect program will more genuinely reflect stock prices and continuously enhance the liquidity and price discovery function of the Hong Kong stock market, Cao Heping, an economist at Peking University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The HKSAR is the largest market for offshore yuan transactions, and the introduction of yuan counters will also provide new asset options for offshore yuan allocation and increase the willingness of overseas investors to hold yuan funds and assets, contributing to the internationalization of the yuan and consolidation of Hong Kong's status as an international financial hub, Cao said.

At the same summit, Jiang Huifen, deputy director-general of the Financial Market Department of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, announced multiple new optimized opening-up measures to further deepen the connectivity of the mainland and Hong Kong financial markets, and support the development of the offshore yuan market.

The measures include improving the operation of the southbound trading of the Bond Connect to support more mainland investors in investing in the offshore bond market, optimizing the operation of the Swap Connect to further meet investors' demand for interest rate risk management, and adjusting the daily net trading limits for Swap Connect, according to Jiang.

In recent years, the connectivity mechanisms between the mainland and Hong Kong continued to deepen. From the rollout of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, to the Bond Connect and Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect, and further to the launch of the Swap Connect, these initiatives signal that two-way opening-up has entered a new stage, contributing to the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong's financial market.

Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), said at a press conference on May 7 that the commission is committed to high-level opening-up of the financial market, vowing to roll out a series of pragmatic opening-up measures.

He noted that the CSRC strongly supports consolidating and enhancing Hong Kong's position as an international financial center, pledging measures including steadily carrying forward the inclusion of the yuan counter into the Hong Kong and Chinese mainland Stock Connect program.

Amid the complex and volatile international environment, Hong Kong should continuously enhance the quality of its financial system and market resilience, especially strengthening connect with the mainland and promoting the connectivity of financial markets in both locations and expanding the trading and settlement functions of yuan assets, Cao said.