HONG KONG, May 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) today (Monday) celebrated the launch of Swap Connect, the new mutual access programme between Hong Kong and Mainland China's interbank interest rate swap markets, with a ceremony held at HKEX Connect Hall and in Beijing. HKEX, through its clearing subsidiary OTC Clear, has been working together with China Foreign Exchange Trade System and Shanghai Clearing House to support the trading and clearing of Swap Connect, which is launching initially with a Northbound channel.
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee, Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China Pan Gongsheng, Deputy Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council Wang Linggui, Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission Chief Executive Officer Julia Leung, and Hong Kong Monetary Authority Chief Executive Eddie Yue delivered speeches at the celebration event. Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong SAR Yin Zonghua, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan, Hong Kong Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui, along with representatives from other financial institutions were also in attendance.
Swap Connect is the latest development in the pioneering Connect Programme and has been warmly welcomed by regional and international investors. On the first day of the programme's launch, 27 offshore investors traded onshore RMB interest rate swaps with a notional value exceeding RMB8,259 million.
The launch of Bond Connect in 2017, part of the broader Connect programme, was an important first milestone in the opening of the Mainland bond market. This marked the beginning of even closer cooperation between Mainland China and Hong Kong's fixed-income markets. Since that time, international investors' onshore bond holdings have grown steadily from RMB0.8 trillion in June 2017 to RMB3.4 trillion in December 2022. Swap Connect is the next step in the evolution of this transformative programme of connectivity.
Providing enhanced risk management capabilities, Swap Connect will facilitate greater international participation in China's fixed-income market. This, in turn, will further strengthen Hong Kong's position as a leading international financial centre, as well as propelling the expansion of the Chinese bond market and the internationalisation of RMB.
About HKEX
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited is a publicly-traded company and one of the world's leading global exchange groups, offering a range of equity, derivative, commodity, fixed income and other financial markets, products and services, including the London Metal Exchange.
As a superconnector and gateway between East and West, HKEX facilitates the two-way flow of capital, ideas and dialogue between China and the rest of world, through its pioneering Connect schemes, increasingly diversified product ecosystem and its deep, liquid and international markets.
HKEX is a purpose-led organisation which, across its business and through the work of HKEX Foundation, seeks to connect, promote and progress its markets and the communities it supports for the prosperity of all.
