Hong Kong is aiming to sharpen its competitive edge as an offshore yuan hub, an asset and wealth management base, and a digital-asset front runner under Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po’s budget released on Wednesday. Market participants largely welcomed Hong Kong’s renewed push to strengthen its position as an international financial centre, after Chan highlighted…
Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po will deliver his annual budget on Wednesday, unveiling measures to accelerate the city’s economic recovery after balancing the books, amid mounting expectations for more “sweeteners” in the blueprint. The 2026-27 budget also marks the government’s first major test in aligning the city with mainland China’s 15th five-year plan…
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he “would not be surprised” if China is already looking into ways to challenge the US’ pre-eminence in digital assets, given Hong Kong’s efforts to develop the industry. When testifying before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, Bessent said that there are “lots of rumours of Chinese digital assets”…
Hong Kong and mainland Chinese stocks outpaced their US peers for the first two weeks of 2026 and should continue to do so for the rest of the year on the back of relatively cheaper valuations, a firmer yuan and policy tailwinds, as geopolitics drives more global investors to look to China as a hedge…
NEW DELHI: More than five decades after Indian naval strikes crippled Karachi during the 1971 war, undersea power is once again at the heart of New Delhi’s strategic thinking. As German Chancellor Friedrich Merz began his visit to India on Monday amid a more volatile regional and global security environment, discussions around Project-75I have acquired…
On December 18, China made a bold move on the global economic chessboard. It launched a massive free-trade experiment by turning the entire island province of Hainan – an area, comparable in size to Belgium, whose gross domestic product was US$113 billion last year – into a duty-free customs zone. A new narrative has now…
Hong Kong is expected to see a rise in bond issuance across multiple currencies in 2026, driven by rising demand for non-US dollar assets amid geopolitical tensions and government initiatives to strengthen the city’s capital markets, according to industry players. As part of efforts to promote the local bond market, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority…
The People’s Bank of China reiterated its pledge for a stable yuan while emphasising foreign exchange market resilience. (Wikipedia pic) BEIJING: The yuan slipped against the US dollar today after China’s central bank sent a strong signal through its midpoint fixing, cautioning against a rapid appreciation of the currency which hovered just shy of the…
Nearly 50 years after she featured on the renminbi banknote, a woman who became known as “one yuan girl” is back in the spotlight due to a recent viral video of her. An influencer in southwestern China’s Guizhou province posted the video on November 26. It featured 65-year-old Shi Naiyin. Shi is an ordinary peasant…
Chinese state-owned banks are selling the yuan in the spot market and offsetting their trades with swaps, putting the brakes on a recent rise in the currency. The lenders have been ramping up their purchases of spot dollars over the past few months and offering large amounts of dollars for yuan in the currency swap…