Rating agency S&P has affirmed China at A+, it said on September 21. The agency noted that recent policy changes have helped to rein in credit growth and reduce China's reliance of economic growth on public investment. S&P also noted, however, that the track record of slower credit expansion is still a very short one.
"The stable outlook reflects our view that China will maintain its robust headline GDP growth and improved fiscal performance in the next three to four years," the agency said in the press release.
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In its semi-annual report, the HKMA noted that offshore RMB deposits in Hong Kong had gone up 2.6% in the first half of 2018 from Rmb618.4bn to Rmb634.2bn. Outstanding RMB loans stood at Rmb123.3bn as of June, down 14.7% from end-2017. Trade settlement in RMB for the six-month period was Rmb2.02tr, with daily average turnover on the local currency settlement system recorded at Rmb935bn, up 5.5% from the same period last year.
"Going forward, the development of the CNH market in Hong Kong will depend on market expectations on the renminbi exchange rate due to the US-China trade tensions and Mainland’s macro-financial conditions," the report noted. "Nevertheless, Hong Kong’s offshore renminbi business is expected to benefit from the progress of Mainland’s capital account liberalisation, the development of the Stock and Bond Connect schemes, and enhanced regional economic co-operation under the Belt and Road and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area initiatives.
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Payment infrastructure provider Swift said the RMB retained the fifth position of most used payment currency with a 2.12% share in August, according to a September 27 statement. Payment value increased by 2.18% compared to a month earlier against an overall volume drop of 1.36%. When looking only at true international payments and excluding payments within the Eurozone, the RMB ranks only eighth with a 1.26% share, Swift said.
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Bank of China said that its index tracking the spread between onshore and offshore financing costs, called Credits Investment and Financing Environment Difference Index, was largely stable in August. It stood at 10.3 points, up by 3.2% after a monthly fall of 24.4% in July, the bank said on September 19. A positive value indicates that RMB bond yields are higher onshore than offshore.
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Chinese state media published a notice of government post changes, noting that Chen Wenhui was removed as vice-chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, while Huang Wei and Zhang Shenfeng would no longer serve as assistant chairpersons of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
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The World Gold Council, an industry body, said on September 24 that it has added Chinese gold producer Shandong Gold to its members and that it was establishing a China chapter for its organisation. Song Xin, the chairman of China Gold Group, is also the chairman of the WGC's China chapter.
"The China chapter will enable greater interaction between the Chinese gold industry and the international gold market, further enhance the Chinese gold industry’s international influence, and promote its continued rapid evolution," Song said in the statement.