gdp, but it is still growing at a rapid pace with a strong pipeline of ipos of companies from the mainland and elsewhere. 7. in the bond space, there is a fairly common misconception that we do not have a bond market to speak of. yes, it is true that corporate hk dollar bond market is small, thanks to the success of the linked exchange rate system which enables our corporations to tap into the much deeper investor pool of us dollar bond markets without much currency risk or hedging costs. but as revealed in a recent report by the international capital markets association ( icma ), hong kong is actually the largest centre for arranging asian international bond issuance, capturing 34 % ( or us $ 196 billion ) of asian international bonds in 2020, followed by the us ( 18 % ), the uk ( 17 % ) and singapore ( 5 % ). 8. hong kong is also well ahead of other major international financial centres in terms of arranging first - time bond issuance, capturing 75 % ( us $ 18 billion ) of the asian market versus singapore ( 9 % ) and the uk ( 5 % ). issuers and investors alike are well served by our comprehensive financial ecosystem underpinned by free flow of capital, an internationallyaligned common law system and regulatory environment, and the presence of world - class professional services with talents from all over the world. 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches 9. all these mean that hong kong is well placed to serve as a centre for asian structured financing just like other financial intermediation that we are doing, as this market continues to mature in this part of the world. 10. the macro trends are also supportive. with the record low interest rates and abundant liquidity in many advanced economies, investors are keen to look for some decent yields for their investments. asia including china is clearly a key focus area. take the bond connect as an example, in 2020 the scheme recorded an average daily turnover of nearly rmb30 billion, representing a growth of 82 % over 2019. this accounts for 52 % of foreign investors ’ total turnover in the cibm market, and shows that hong kong continues to be the preferred channel for investing in the mainland market. the next exciting thing will be the launch of the southbound bond connect, which will open up a ground - breaking conduit for mainland investors to access the international bond market via hong kong. all these will be important impetus for the further development of fixed income including structured credit

non - deliverable forward exchange rate, which tracked each other very closely until the end of 1998, when they began to diverge. the decoupling suggests that the market has drawn the obvious conclusion from the fact that, since the linked exchange rate was introduced in 1983, the renminbi has depreciated by more than 70 %, while, during the same period, the hong kong dollar has remained rock solid. and this was confirmed by the calmness with which the market took the raising of the possibility of greater flexibility for the renminbi exchange rate by premier zhu. our own study further suggests that, contrary to popular intuition, a devaluation of the renminbi might actually provide a stimulus to the hong kong economy : this is because the positive impact on demand arising from the complementarities between the two economies would outweigh the negative impact of any loss of competitiveness in those relatively few activities where the two economies remain in competition with each other. such complementarities are in part reflected in hong kong ’ s role as a major entrepot for mainland exports. for any renminbi devaluation, while hong kong ’ s own direct trade balance with the mainland will deteriorate, our re - exports of mainland origin should rise. indeed, with the surge in mainland re - exports activities since the early 1980s, the margins earned on such re - exports are now larger than all other components of hong kong ’ s trade with the mainland combined. conclusion i have suggested in this address that china ’ s accession to the wto will bring benefits to hong kong on a number of fronts. wto entry will see a vast and rapid increase in china ’ s external trade. not all of this additional trade will go through hong kong, but nor will it all avoid hong kong. more important still, the stimulus to liberalisation, globalisation and better corporate governance will expand and deepen hong kong ’ s well - established role as a fund of professional expertise, a centre of international experience and a source and channel of investment. hong kong ’ s banking sector, with its strong reputation and long involvement in mainland business, stands to benefit greatly from the liberalisation in this area, providing that it can position itself to make the best out of the opportunities. in the monetary sphere, the various predictions about the future development of the renminbi in the light of wto membership - which include the possibility of greater exchange rate flexibility - would most likely have positive implications