HKEX Connect Hall has been packed all day for HKEX’s 6th Annual RMB Fixed Income & Currency Pan-Asian Conference, which featured several keynote speeches and panel discussions on Hong Kong as an FIC hub and China’s RMB bond market.
"Domestic Chinese bonds becoming part of the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Index marks a key milestone in the opening up of China's financial markets,” said HKEX Chief Executive Charles Li to open the forum in front of more than 600 participants. He detailed HKEX’s strategy to build out its fixed income and currency business, and why Hong Kong will become increasingly important as a connector between the international and Mainland markets.
Li said product, access and infrastructure are HKEX’s three main focuses in the coming years to help develop Hong Kong as a fixed income currency centre in the Asian time zone. HKEX will look to extend onshore commodities capabilities in the Mainland and build reliable, high-tech market infrastructure to make Hong Kong a trusted cross-border trading, settlement and clearing center. Li added that Northbound trading under Bond Connect, a convenient and direct channel for international investors to access China’s interbank bond market, has been critical to improving the connectivity between the global and Mainland bond markets. Market participation in Bond Connect has been growing rapidly, with average daily volumes reaching over RMB6 billion in the first three months of 2019, up from RMB2 billion when it first launched two years ago.
Li was followed by Bloomberg Chairman of External Relations Kevin Sheekey, who talked about the significance of RMB bonds being included in the Bloomberg Barclays Aggregate Index and long-term potential of China’s bond market for international investors.
The conference also featured a series of panel discussions led by market experts focusing on China’s bond and fixed income markets. Here are some photos of the day.
HKEX and Bloomberg celebrate the inclusion of Chinese bonds in the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Bond Index at the conference today.
