On the afternoon of 12 March 2020, an online lecture about finance was held by the Faculty of Finance of City University of Macau, where Chang Kin, the deputy general manager of China Guangfa Bank (Macau Branch), made a speech titled "Accelerating RMB Internationalization: An Introduction of Cross-Border Clearing Infrastructure". The lecture was hosted by Associate Dean Khong Yueng Wah of the Faculty of Finance, and a large number of students attended the lecture through the online platform.
The online lecture consisted of four parts. First, Mr Chang Kin introduced the development and current situation of RMB internationalization. According to him, RMB is one of the six most active currencies in the world; it is widely applied to the valuation and settlement of international trade and to the transactions in the investment and financial markets; it is accepted as a reserve currency. Then, he analysed the significance of RMB internationalization from two perspectives – country and enterprise. On the dimension of country, it helps the enterprises of an issuing country make various kinds of financing and investment with RMB across the world and expand the potential development of RMB in the financial market; from the angle of enterprise, it can evade exchange rate risk and reduce the risk of currency mismatching, and it features simple formalities and procedures and offers more currency options. In the second part, Mr Chang Kin introduced some common cross-border clearing models in the international community, including correspondent bank, clearing bank, non-resident account, and special cross-border clearing and settlement system. He pointed out that cross-border clearing and settlement system plays an important role in financial infrastructure and serves as the fundamental guarantee for the efficient connection and steady operation of onshore and offshore financial markets. In addition, he analysed the differences among and the problems of correspondent bank, clearing bank and non-resident account. Then, he moved on to the third part – the RMB cross-border inter-bank payment system (CIPS) and spelled out the current situation of CIPS and summarized the development of CIPS since its establishment in 2012. For the final part, he said that the economic and trade cooperation between the mainland and Macao has been deepened. Besides, the strong historical connection between Macao and the Portuguese-speaking countries has enabled the enterprises from Mainland China to expand its capital clearing and settlement business to these countries through Macao and provided foreign exchange, clearing and credit services for these enterprises to make investment in the Portuguese-speaking countries included in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Therefore, Macao will focus on transforming itself into a RMB clearing platform for both Chinese and Portuguese people. Finally, the students seized the precious time to raise questions, all of which were answered by Mr Chang Kin with details. In this way, the students had a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of RMB clearing. Moreover, both the teachers and the students extended heartfelt thanks to Guangfa Bank and Mr Chang Kin for their long-term support for City University of Macau.
To review the wonderful lecture, please click the following link:
https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/6f9a5cac-1d06-412c-b8d6-34777cbfd4aa?list=studio