Helping hand Source: REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon Members of an honour guard have their boots clean as they get ready for a welcoming ceremony. China’s structured finance market has made a great leap forward this year, with more domestic securitisations in the first six months than in the previous nine years combined. Sales of asset-backed securities reached Rmb81.3bn (US$13bn) in the first half of this year, more than the total of Rmb74.7bn issued before the end of 2013. This year’s uptick has more t

Shanghai and beyond Source: REUTERS/Carlos Barria Michael Norris of Australia performs during a presentation at the World Extreme Games in Shanghai. Greater China market participants have high hopes that a pilot cross-border agreement between the PRC and Hong Kong on stock investments will be expanded beyond Shanghai once regulators iron out a few early stage wrinkles. The China Securities Regulatory Commission and Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission announced the link between the two

Growing up fast Source: REUTERS A feeder holds a giant panda cub, the only survivor of the triplets giant panda Jiaozi had last August, at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, Sichuan. The offshore renminbi bond market is growing fast as global deposit pools deepen and demand for overseas investments grows. Sales of Dim Sum bonds, maturing in one year or more, reached Rmb213bn (US$35bn) in the first half of 2014, already comfortably exceeding the Rmb190bn in the full yea

Testing the ground Source: REUTERS Villagers stand around an ancestral tomb, which is being relocated from a construction site of a residential compound in Taiyuan, Shanxi. Although the pace of development in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone has underwhelmed international market participants, they remain convinced that the business district offers too much potential to ignore. The 29-square-kilometre trade zone officially opened in September 2013. It is a key pillar in Premier Li Keqiang’s plans to

Opening doors Source: REUTERS/Jason Lee Waiters open a Chinese traditional red door inside a luxurious furniture museum in Beijing. China is opening its domestic capital markets to a widening group of foreign investors as it seeks to unlock its capital account and expand the use of the renminbi. The total amount of foreign investment permitted remains relatively small at Rmb1trn (US$161.5bn), compared with the Rmb60trn outstanding in China’s capital markets, and the arrival of more overseas part

Two-way traffic Source: REUTERS/David Gray Cars drive along a main road in central Beijing. After winning Asia’s emerging-market currency race last year with a 2.9% rise against the US dollar, it took less than three months for the renmimbi to wipe out those gains. The weakness was seen as deliberate attempt in Beijing to thwart illicit inflows and lay the groundwork for a more flexible foreign-exchange trading band. It was, however, the severity of the decline that spooked investors, who were a

The competition between the world’s financial centres to establish their offshore renminbi trading credentials has emerged as one of the most visible signs of the currency’s internationalisation. PRC regulators have stoked that rivalry in recent months with approvals for an increasing number of international renminbi-clearing banks, key components in China’s steady push to widen the use of its currency. Since mid-June, the People’s Bank of China has approved renminbi-clearing banks in London, Fr

Picking up pace Source: REUTERS/Tyrone Siu The Sun Hung Kai Properties Vertical Run for the Chest race takes competitors up 82 floors at the International Commerce Centre, Hong Kong’s tallest building. China’s efforts to make the renminbi a top international currency are gaining momentum as the world’s second largest economy pushes for a greater role in the global marketplace. After starting with baby steps a decade ago, regulators have made a range of policy decisions within the last two years

Renminbi Capital Markets: Showing new strength Source: REUTERS A shaolin monk breaks an iron sheet with his head during a performance at a temple in Quanzhou, Fujian. A little volatility can be a good thing. For years, since China began opening its currency to overseas buyers, investors have had a free ride. The renminbi has steadily gained about 25% against the US dollar, making the overseas Dim Sum market one of the world’s biggest one-way bets. That appreciation trend helped drive internation