At the opening ceremony of the 18th Asian Financial Forum held in Hong Kong on January 13, Pan Gongsheng, President of the People's Bank of China, said that recently, the People's Bank of China is in close communication with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Securities Regulatory Commission of the two places, and will launch policy measures from three aspects of improving the construction of the offshore RMB market, optimizing the connectivity of the financial market, and improving the convenience of payment and settlement to fully support the construction of the Hong Kong International Financial Center. Pan Gongsheng stated that in improving the construction of the offshore RMB market, firstly, he supports the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in launching RMB trade financing liquidity arrangements. On the basis of the existing framework for RMB working capital arrangements, RMB trade financing working capital arrangements will be established using swap funds, with terms of 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months, and a total amount of RMB 100 billion, providing a stable and low-cost source of funds for RMB trade financing for commercial banks in Hong Kong. Second, support the launch of offshore bond repurchase business under the Bond Connect, enrich investor liquidity management tools, and enhance the attractiveness of RMB bond assets. Third, actively support Hong Kong to launch offshore RMB treasury bond bond futures. In terms of optimizing financial market connectivity, the first is to support Bond Connect bonds as qualified collateral in the Hong Kong financial market. The People's Bank of China has previously announced that it supports overseas institutions to use Bond Connect bonds to pay swap deposits, and this business was officially launched on the 13th. Pan Gongsheng said that in the future, the People's Bank of China will support Bond Connect bonds to be more widely used as qualified collateral in the Hong Kong financial market. The second is to optimize the operation mechanism of the Bond Connect southbound link, support domestic investors to more facilitate the purchase of multi currency bonds, and extend the settlement time. In the future, the scope of investors will be expanded in an orderly manner, and more custodian banks will be added. In terms of improving the convenience of payment and settlement, the People's Bank of China will accelerate the cross-border interconnection of rapid payment systems. Promote the interconnection of fast payment systems between mainland China and Hong Kong, support real-time cross-border remittance processing for mainland and Hong Kong residents, and provide safer, more efficient, and convenient cross-border payment services for economic and trade activities and personnel exchanges between mainland China and Hong Kong. Further expand the scope of participation of Hong Kong and Macao residents in the proxy witness account opening business with banks. Pan Gongsheng emphasized that the prosperous development of the capital market is the core and cornerstone of Hong Kong's international financial center. The People's Bank of China will coordinate with the Hong Kong financial management department to support the healthy development of the mainland and Hong Kong capital markets, including supporting more high-quality enterprises to list and issue bonds in Hong Kong, continuously optimizing and expanding the connectivity between the mainland and Hong Kong in the fields of stocks, bonds, wealth management, interest rate exchange, deepening financial cooperation in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area, increasing the asset allocation ratio of the national foreign exchange reserves in Hong Kong, and opening up broader space for Hong Kong's financial development. (New Society)