In recent years, Bank of China has been building the offshore RMB infrastructure in Hong Kong, deepening financial connectivity between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, and boosting cross-border financing for the real economy to support the development of the offshore RMB market ecosystem. In the first half of 2026, RMB clearing volume at Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited (BOCHK) reached RMB 286.85 trillion, continuing to lead the global offshore RMB market.

Upgrading RMB clearing network

Since BOCHK became the world's first RMB clearing bank in 2003, BOC has leveraged BOCHK's reach in Southeast Asia to continuously advance Hong Kong's offshore RMB clearing system from local settlement to global connectivity.

BOC has effectively addressed the challenges in cross-time-zone fund settlement. Hong Kong's RMB settlement system was launched in 2006 and upgraded to a full-fledged RMB RTGS system in 2007. Its weekday operating window was extended to 20.5 hours in 2015. In 2016, BOCHK became the first offshore bank to join the Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) as a direct participant.

As the first commercial bank in Hong Kong to connect directly to the Multiple Central Bank Digital Currency Bridge (mBridge), BOCHK completed its first fully automated end-to-end cross-border remittance for a corporate customer. In 2026, BOCHK, Bank of China (Thai) Public Company Limited, and BOCHK Vientiane Branch were among the first institutions to connect to the Cross-border e-CNY Transfer Services (CBETS) platform, accelerating the cross-border use of e-CNY.

Leveraging BOCHK's role as BOC's regional headquarters for Southeast Asia, BOC has expanded its regional clearing network: Bank of China (Malaysia) Berhad and BOCHK's Manila, Phnom Penh, and Jakarta branches have successively been approved as local RMB clearing banks, while BOCHK Vientiane Branch has been approved to conduct e-CNY clearing business in Laos. An integrated offshore RMB clearing network has thus been built, with Hong Kong as its hub and a reach spanning Southeast Asia.

Broadening two-way opening-up

BOC has been deeply involved in developing financial market connectivity between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, supporting key financial innovation initiatives throughout the entire implementation process.

Northbound Swap Connect was officially launched in May 2023, helping to address gaps in offshore RMB interest rate derivatives. As one of the first qualified overseas investors in Northbound Swap Connect and a principal partner bank of OTC Clearing Hong Kong Limited (OTC Clear), BOCHK worked with BOC Shanghai Branch to provide cross-border cash pool management and real-time fund transfer support services. In the first half of 2026, BOCHK's transaction volume through Swap Connect reached RMB 209 billion.

BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Limited was among the first Hong Kong-listed companies to establish an RMB counter. BOCHK was among the first in the industry to support cross-counter trading via its mobile banking app, facilitating global investors' participation in the trading of Hong Kong stocks in RMB and broadening the use of RMB in offshore equity markets.

As a market maker appointed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) for the Northbound Bond Connect, BOCHK conducts offshore RMB bond repo transactions through the Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU), using Northbound Bond Connect bonds as collateral on a routine basis. After HKEX launched its China Government Bond Futures in August 2026, BOCHK, as a designated liquidity provider, traded all contract months and provided continuous two-sided quotations on the first day of listing.

Serving the real economy

Addressing the challenges faced by Chinese enterprises going global and operating across borders, BOC has delivered end-to-end integrated financial solutions to serve the real economy.

BOC tailored an end-to-end cross-border RMB service package for a leading steel producer in the Chinese mainland to address the long-standing reliance of bulk commodity trade on a single foreign currency. Through electronic presentation of L/C documents, RMB settlement with upstream suppliers, and downstream RMB forfaiting, BOC helped expand the company's cross-border RMB import and export transaction volume fourfold and shortened its document circulation cycle by 67%.

Combining cross-border cash pools and diversified treasury products, BOC has met the cross-border fund pooling and allocation needs of leading internet and Hong Kong-listed enterprises. BOC assisted Vanke in completing its first RMB dividend distribution since its H-share listing, setting a benchmark for local-currency dividend distribution among Hong Kong-listed companies.

Under the HKMA's RMB Trade Financing Liquidity Facility, BOC successively supported enterprises including Texhong International, Esquel Group, Bank of Communications Financial Leasing Co Ltd, and Henderson Land Development, with the largest single drawdown exceeding RMB 4 billion. Through coordination with its European and Asian overseas institutions, BOC disbursed offshore RMB loans with a single transaction exceeding RMB 1 billion.

Enriching the offshore bond market

BOC's offshore RMB bond underwriting volume has exceeded RMB 131 billion since the beginning of 2026, ranking first in the market. It has ranked first among underwriters for three consecutive years and has become the preferred banking partner for both domestic and overseas dim sum bond issuers.

For many consecutive years, BOC has taken the lead in assisting the Hainan, Guangdong, and Shenzhen governments with offshore local government bond issuances. It continues to enhance the international recognition and pricing influence of RMB assets by leveraging its high-quality bond underwriting services.

Since 2024, BOC has participated in every offshore RMB bond issuance by leading internet companies including Alibaba Group, Baidu Inc, Tencent, Meituan, and JD.com, helping domestic technology and innovation companies expand their global financing channels.

Since the beginning of 2026, BOC has successively assisted the Indonesian government, Chubb, and Singapore Airlines with dim sum bond issuances, facilitating efficient cross-border RMB investment and financing for overseas institutions.

BOC will continue to advance its offshore RMB clearing network, deepen innovation in financial products connecting the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, and deepen its support for cross-border real-economy activity. Leveraging synergies across its onshore and offshore operations and between commercial and investment banking, BOC will provide stronger financial support for Hong Kong in consolidating and enhancing its status as an international financial center and in developing into a global offshore RMB business hub.