Official: HK plays role as financial gateway to China

HONG KONG, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong Secretary for
Financial Services and the Treasury KC Chan called on Belgian investors to take
advantage of the expanding renminbi business in Hong Kong, a government press
release said on Wednesday.

According to a press release from the Information
Services Department of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)
government, when addressing a business luncheon in Brussels, Chan said the
Central Government has announced a pilot scheme for using renminbi for
cross-border trade settlements, strengthening Hong Kong's role as the financial
gateway to China.

"Both our financial industry and trade between the
two places will benefit immensely from this breakthrough," he said. "We will
announce the implementation details as soon as they are finalized, and we will
continue to work towards aligning our two financial systems to become a more
efficient and low-risk corridor for investment into and out of the Chinese
mainland."

Meanwhile, he said the HKSAR government is working
closely with other economies and the international financial community to
respond to the global financial crisis in a "co-ordinated and
mutually-reinforcing manner", with a view to reaching a consensus on a new
financial architecture to better suit the globalized world.