Latest news with #PanGongsheng
RTHK
10 hours ago
- Business
- RTHK
HKers can use FPS for payments up north from Sunday
HKers can use FPS for payments up north from Sunday HKMA chief executive Eddie Yue says Payment Connect will allow local residents to make transfers of small sums in a much simpler way. Photo: RTHK China's central bank governor Pan Gongsheng hails Payment Connect as a milestone in deepening financial connectivity between Hong Kong and the mainland. Photo: RTHK Residents from Hong Kong and the mainland will soon be able to use a new fast payment tool to conduct cross-border transactions involving small sums in real time from Sunday, with monetary authorities from both sides hailing the launch as a milestone in deepening connectivity. The announcement came after the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's launch on Friday of the cross-border payment method, Payment Connect, which links its electronic payment network – Faster Payment System (FPS) – with the mainland's Internet Banking Payment System. The linkage allows cross-bank transactions using simply the recipients' mobile numbers or account numbers, with small-value payments settled instantly at any time. "I'm very much looking forward to Sunday when we will further connect the fast payment systems between Hong Kong and the mainland using Payment Connect, as it breaks through the boundaries of time and place," HKMA chief executive Eddie Yue said at the launching ceremony in Beijing. "Residents from both places will only need to click on our phones, enter the recipient's mobile phone number, and they can easily make small personal remittances or pay for various living expenses [using it], achieving simple and immediate transfers," he said, adding that the FPS system has been very popular among Hong Kong residents since 2018. Under the new service, residents can use FPS to transfer small sums of up to HK$10,000 each day per account to the mainland, while the total annual remittance limit is set at HK$200,000. And such transfers will not affect another 80,000 yuan of northbound daily quota set for local residents. While there's no limit set for mainland residents using the tool for southbound transfers, they will still be subject to the current annual foreign exchange quota of US$50,000 per person. The launch of the tool also comes as the number of FPS users closes on 17 million, with one million new accounts being set up in the first five months of the year. The number of registered users is far more than the total population of Hong Kong as an individual can have more than one account. For his part, People's Bank of China governor Pan Gongsheng said the launch marks another milestone in the deepening of financial connectivity between Hong Kong and the mainland, as Beijing highly values the SAR as a global financial centre. "The cross-border Payment Connect, which is directly connected to the infrastructure of the monetary authorities of the two places, provides online fast bilateral local currency and bilateral renminbi remittance services for residents of the two places, which will further enhance the efficiency and experience of cross-border payments," he said. "It'll also provide conveniences for economic and trade cooperation as well as personnel exchanges between Hong Kong and the mainland, injecting new vitality into Hong Kong's development while further promoting the cross-border adoption of the renminbi," he added. The two sides have been working on the service since August. The new tool will see six SAR banks join the first batch of institutions to provide such services – Bank of China (Hong Kong), HSBC, Hang Seng Bank, Bank of East Asia, as well as two state-backed lenders. There'll also be six mainland banks supporting the tool.
South China Morning Post
11 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Mainland China, Hong Kong launching Payment Connect scheme to facilitate capital flows
China's central bank is launching a new connect programme with Hong Kong to facilitate cross-border payments – Beijing's latest move to open up its financial sector and also leverage the southern financial centre to better connect with the rest of the world. The Payment Connect programme will link the mainland's Internet Banking Payment System and Hong Kong's Faster Payment System (FPS), allowing users to make payments and wire money faster and more conveniently. The programme will begin on Sunday. 'It's another milestone in deepening financial cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong. It fully indicates the central government's determination to consolidate and improve Hong Kong's international financial status,' Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People's Bank of China, said at the launch ceremony on Friday in Beijing. '[The connect programme] will improve the efficiency of cross-border payments, facilitate economic and trade cooperation, as well as boost people exchanges,' he said. 'It will bring new vigour for Hong Kong's development and also boost cross-border use of the yuan.' Eddie Yue, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, said the scheme provided residents and institutions with a safe, efficient and convenient payment option, while also hailing the deepening economic cooperation.
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Business Standard
17 hours ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Best of BS Opinion: Why policy must shelter everyone without favour
It's that season again, when the rains surprise you. You step out without an umbrella, only to see someone near you pull one out, wide and sturdy but only for themselves. Or worse, they tilt it just enough to keep their shoulder dry while yours soaks. That's what bad policy often looks like. Advice or governance that shelters a few, but leaves the rest exposed. Advisory should be like a good umbrella; broad, responsive, and meant for all. Let's dive in. Pan Gongsheng, China's central bank chief, wants to widen the global monetary umbrella, away from dollar dominance. With six foreign banks joining China's SWIFT alternative and ECB's Christine Lagarde echoing concerns, there's a visible push. But, as our first editorial notes, China's capital controls and credibility gaps mean the renminbi (Chinese Yuan) isn't a ready replacement. Instead, we may end up with a fragmented financial drizzle with more transaction costs and less shelter for all. Closer home, Uttar Pradesh is building something more inclusive. The state is planning 15 MSME zones across 11 districts, using over 700 acres to energise small businesses. Programmes like One District One Product are reshaping exports, but the umbrella is still lopsided, argues our second editorial. Only one in three MSMEs are run by women, and agro-processing remains underscaled. For MSMEs to truly flourish, policies must unfurl beyond land to credit access, rural skilling, and logistical ease. Air safety, argues K P Krishnan, urgently needs its own umbrella. India's DGCA is shackled, lacking autonomy, money, and modern recruitment. Global regulators like the FAA and CAA operate with real independence. India needs an Aviation Safety Authority through a full Act of Parliament, with financial muscle and legal teeth. After all, umbrellas shouldn't only open after the thunderclap. And Vinayak Chatterjee writes of a nuclear pivot. From Small Modular Reactors to private sector entry, India's ambitious 100 GW goal by 2047 demands updated laws and new investors. But unless vendor liability rules, fuel security, and financing reforms come through, the umbrella will remain stuck at half-open. Finally, in Private Revolutions: Coming of Age in a New China, as reviewed by Gunjan Singh, Yuan Yang reminds us that in China too, the umbrella of reform has left many standing at the edge. Her portrait of four women reveals how revolutions may roar from the state but the everyday act of staying dry is personal, persistent, and quietly radical. Stay tuned and remember, advisory shouldn't be weather-dependent or selective. Open it wide or what's the point?
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Business Standard
a day ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Despite China's ambitions, renminbi in no position to topple dollar
The Donald Trump administration is pushing the United States (US) into uncharted territory in so many ways that it's difficult to gauge where and how things will eventually settle Business Standard Editorial Comment Mumbai Listen to This Article People's Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng on Wednesday made a strong pitch for a multipolar international monetary system and warned against excessive reliance on a single currency. The message clearly is to shift away from the dollar-denominated global financial system. China has been consistently trying to project the renminbi (RMB) as an international currency. Six foreign banks announced on Wednesday that they would use China's Cross-Border Interbank Payment System, an alternative to the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) payment system. In principle, there is merit in the argument that the world should not rely on one currency
Reuters
a day ago
- Business
- Reuters
Breakingviews - China's new currency order faces same old problems
HONG KONG, June 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) - It's a good time to pitch alternatives to the U.S. dollar , but it pays to be specific. On Wednesday, People's Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng told attendees of a financial forum in Shanghai that he expected the largely greenback-based global monetary system to become multipolar, ultimately helping to 'better safeguard global financial stability'. Pan had clearly read the room: just a day prior, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde wrote, opens new tab in the Financial Times that a 'global euro' moment had arrived as the dollar's dominance is called into question, pointing to 'protectionism, zero-sum thinking and bilateral power plays'. It's not difficult to imagine a scenario in which the dollar retreats as the euro increasingly dominates European finance and the yuan comes to dominate Asian finance. In reality, though, getting there is much harder. Figures, opens new tab from the Bank for International Settlements show outstanding U.S. government debt securities at roughly $31 trillion, while those of China and the euro area are both at about $11 trillion each. Combined, the latter two come closer to the dollar total, lending some credence to Pan's scenario. But size alone is not enough. China, for instance, offers a large, single pool of government debt denominated in its own currency with a common credit rating — key prerequisites for reserve currency status. However, its capital account is largely closed, currency hedging options are restricted and domestic banks controlled by the state buy up the lion's share of government bonds issued and hold them to maturity. That saps market liquidity. Meanwhile the euro area has an open capital account and proper hedging tools, but is comprised of 20 member states with individual credit ratings and differing appetites for bond issuance. For both the euro and yuan to pose a serious challenge to the dollar, then, requires two major changes: China needs to open its capital account and substantially change the investment behaviour of its banks; and the eurozone needs most of its member states to sufficiently improve their credit ratings while also spurring enough issuance. From this perspective, a multi-pronged assault on U.S. dollar hegemony looks like a long shot - especially given that the new measures Pan flagged this week to boost yuan internationalisation were marginal at best, in line with President Xi Jinping's stated desire for a firm exchange rate. The ECB may well take a crack at dethroning the greenback, which Beijing will cheer. But for as long as it keeps its capital account cloister-tight, China won't be ramping up its own efforts. Follow Hudson Lockett on Bluesky, opens new tab and X, opens new tab.
