Why China’s path to ‘financial superpower’ status could begin in Hong Kong

When Wilson Chan Fung-cheung joined Hong Kong’s banking industry as a foreign-exchange trader more than four decades ago, his work involved US dollars, UK pounds, Japanese yen and various European and Asian currencies – but not Chinese yuan.“Back then, there was no yuan trading at all as, in fact, the internationalisation of the yuan only started in 2009,” recalled Chan, who has worked for various Chinese banks.Beijing’s decision that year to promote its currency for wider use in trade, investment and other fundraising activities was a game-changer for Hong Kong, which rapidly became an offshore yuan hub, he added.“Nowadays, the yuan is one of the most used currencies in trade finance worldwide, while many mainland banks and companies have used Hong Kong as a stepping stone to raise funds to develop their businesses internationally,” Chan said.As Beijing kicks off its next five-year plan this year and refloats President Xi Jinping’s goal of building the country into a “financial superpower”, analysts said Hong Kong could play a critical and unique role – and not just in solidifying the status of the offshore yuan. Long established as a global financial centre thanks to its common-law system, strong financial infrastructure and abundant talent, the city was also poised to help ramp up digital yuan adoption, connect global investors with mainland listing candidates and serve as a testing ground for cryptocurrency assets, they said.First declared at a high-level financial policy conference in 2023, Xi elaborated further on his vision of China as a financial superpower in a 2024 speech. Those remarks were recently republished by Qiushi, the ruling Communist Party’s leading theoretical journal, indicating the ambitious target has not been forgotten in the run-up to this year’s “two sessions”, the annual meetings of the country’s top legislature and political advisory body.“Hong Kong can contribute to the country’s ambition to be a financial superpower by being the best international financial centre that we can be,” said Robert Lee Wai-wang, ­a lawmaker and the chairman of Hong Kong-based Grand Finance Group.