2nd HK-Australia RMB Trade and Investment Dialogue held in HK

The Second Hong Kong-Australia Renminbi (RMB) Trade and Investment Dialogue was held in Hong Kong on Thursday.

The dialogue was facilitated by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the Australian Treasury, and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), more than 130 representatives from corporate and financial institutions attended the dialogue.

According to HKMA, the dialogue focused on how corporate, financial institutions, and investors can take advantage of the latest policy developments to strengthen RMB trade and investment links with the Mainland, as well as to make use of offshore RMB capital markets to meet their funding and investment needs.

HKMA said, since the first dialogue was held in Sydney last year, international use of the RMB has continued to gain momentum. The use of RMB by corporate in cross-border trade and investment transactions has increased, while RMB financial activities in the offshore markets have also grown.

"In Australia, 63 percent of respondents to a recent survey indicated that they expect to increase their RMB use in the future. Meanwhile, RMB activities have continued to expand in Hong Kong, with the average daily turnover of the RMB Real Time Gross Settlement system increasing markedly to some 700 billion RMB in March 2014," HKMA said.

The dialogue was opened by Norman Chan, chief executive of the HKMA and Martin Parkinson, secretary to the Australian Treasury on Thursday.

The dialogue is a private sector-led initiative which aims to provide a platform to foster closer collaboration between Hong Kong and Australia on RMB trade settlement and investment, the development of RMB-denominated banking products and closer RMB banking and financial links.