Renminbi accounts to be available to non-HK residents

Renminbi services will be available to them from August 1.

Authority Chief Executive Norman Chan said banks in Hong Kong may begin offering renminbi services to non-Hong Kong residents next month, adding this was another important milestone for the development of offshore renminbi business in Hong Kong.

The authority has also had deliberations with the industry about how renminbi business for Hong Kong residents can also be refined, he said. Several proposals will be considered further and discussed with Mainland authorities.

Analysts saud Hong Kong is allowing non-residents to purchase an unlimited amount of renminbi or yuan to defend its position as the global hub for international trade and finance in the currency.

The 20,000 yuan (US$3,130) daily conversion quota on Hong Kong’s permanent residents at the onshore rate will be kept unchanged and a maximum of 80,000 yuan can be sent into the mainland every day, Chan said.

Hong Kong’s biggest banks have been lobbying China to ease restrictions on the city’s renminbi business as competition from London and Singapore increases. The halt in the renminbi’s appreciation against the U.S. dollar this year has lowered the appetite among residents for assets denominated in the renminbi.