Australia backs RMB internationalization
Updated: 2013-01-16 13:13
By Li Fusheng in Hong Kong (China Daily)
|
||||||||
Australia supports China's efforts to internationalize its currency, said Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Wayne Swan at the sixth Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong.
"Australia has climbed from the 12th to the fourth in the world for use of the RMB for global SWIFT payments" since it established a high-level dialogue with Hong Kong on renminbi trade and investment last July," Swan said.
"We are also working with China to establish direct trading between our two currencies on the mainland, and we're making great progress," he said.
Swan said Hong Kong is not only an economic powerhouse in its own right but also has a great role to play in RMB internationalization.
Hong Kong was the first offshore market to launch RMB business back in 2004. Now it is the world's largest offshore RMB trading center, processing some 80 percent of RMB-denominated trade settlements, said Julia Leung, a top official from Hong Kong's treasury department.
Statistics from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority show that trade settlement in RMB handled by banks in Hong Kong totaled 1.9 billion yuan in 2011, more than five times the amount settled in 2010.
Hong Kong has many other roles besides acting as the dominant offshore trading center for the RMB, said Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.
"From a broader perspective, I see Hong Kong as the two-way 'Chief Information Officer' and 'Chief Knowledge Officer' for anyone interested in China," he said.
"From financial services to real estate to social development, Hong Kong is the go-to place for information, knowledge and networking on the mainland," Leung Chun-ying said.
In the meanwhile, Hong Kong can help China to go global by offering an effective channel for mainland investors to branch out and explore overseas markets, he added.
Swan also called for greater cooperation and deeper economic engagement among Asian countries because "our interests and futures are bound together".
Calling Asia "our region", he said there are "vast opportunities to work together to unleash the flow of capital across Asian borders to create more prosperity and to lift more people out of poverty."
Optimistic about Asia's economy, he predicted that half of the world's economic output will be generated within this economic zone in the coming decade.
lifusheng@chinadaily.com.cn
Read more in
Yuan goes global
- Li Na on Time cover, makes influential 100 list
- FBI releases photos of 2 Boston bombings suspects
- World's wackiest hairstyles
- Sandstorms strike Northwest China
- Never-seen photos of Madonna on display
- H7N9 outbreak linked to waterfowl migration
- Dozens feared dead in Texas plant blast
- Venezuelan court rules out manual votes counting
Most Viewed
Editor's Picks
American abroad |
Industry savior: Big boys' toys |
New commissioner
|
Liaoning: China's oceangoing giant |
TCM - Keeping healthy in Chinese way |
Poultry industry under pressure |
Today's Top News
Boston bombing suspect reported cornered on boat
7.0-magnitude quake hits Sichuan
Cross-talk artist helps to spread the word
'Green' awareness levels drop in Beijing
Palace Museum spruces up
First couple on Time's list of most influential
H7N9 flu transmission studied
Trading channels 'need to broaden'
US Weekly
Beyond Yao
|
Money power |