Macau (MNA) – Macau is positioned to provide a financial bridge between China and Portuguese-speaking countries for the Guangdong Province, according to Yu Kwan Ming, the Chief Economist of the Guangdong Provincial Finance Bureau.
“Financial institutions that meet the requirements in Guangdong will use [Macau] as an investment forum to go global, particularly in terms of building a renminbi-clearing centre for Portuguese-speaking countries,” Mr. Yu said during the 4th Young Entrepreneurs Forum of China and Portuguese-speaking Countries held within the Macau International Trade and Investment Forum (MIF).
Macau has provided services as a Renminbi clearing centre since 2016, according to a release from the Macao Trade and Promotion Institute (IPIM).
According to IPIM data, Macau’s system for Renminbi Real Time Gross Settlement (RMB RTGS) was first launched in March 2016, providing real-time settlement services for Renminbi remittance and interbank transfers between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.
The Chief Executive Officer of Banco Nacional Ultramarino (BNU), Carlos Cid Alvares, presented financial data during the event showing that as of end-2017, Brazil had accounted for the highest number of Renminbi transactions, handling a total of US$8.8 trillion (MOP70.7 trillion) worth of such transactions, followed by Angola, which has processed US$2.2 trillion worth of Renminbi clearances.
“BNU and Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) Group are prepared to do the [Renminbi clearing] operations for Portuguese-speaking countries in Macau. I think it is very good [for customers] because customers can hedge and have less currency risk by operating only in renminbi,”Mr. Alvares told Macau News Agency (MNA) on the sidelines of the event.
“The volume of [Renminbi clearing] business is also related to the gross domestic product of each country. Brazil is a very big economy, so obviously they have a lot of things that China imports […]. Business with other Portuguese-speaking countries are growing up, I think six times more, five times more, it depends on the countries but I think the future can be bright in that area,” he explained.
Trade between China and Portuguese-speaking countries have reached US$82.2 billion for the first seven months of the year, according to the latest statistics provided by China Customs.
