that next year will be a crucial year for the development of offshore rmb business in hong kong. we have made very good progress this year. along this positive trend, and with the number of mainland enterprises eligible for the cross - border rmb trade settlement scheme increased substantially to 67, 000 recently and with the refinements that we are going to introduce, i am confident that the offshore rmb market in hong kong will continue to develop progressively in the coming year, both in terms of the depth and breadth of the market and product development. four hong kong banks have been approved to participate in the mainland ’ s interbank bond market, and the applications by a number of banks are being processed by the mainland authorities. this will provide a channel for the circulation and capital preservation for the rmb funds in hong kong. meanwhile, we have just been informed that hkma ’ s eligibility for investing in the mainland ’ s interbank bond market has been approved by the pboc. we are working closely with the pboc on the implementation arrangements. finally, to further promote the development of the rmb offshore business in hong kong, the hkma is making preparations for overseas roadshows with the financial industry, focusing on locations which have growing trade and investment flows with the mainland. we believe that with our joint efforts, hong kong will be able to play its role as an rmb offshore market to the fullest, thereby promoting and supporting the nation ’ s increasing cross - border trade and investment activities while enhancing and consolidating the status of hong kong as an international financial centre.

and there are still many challenges facing us. the hkma has therefore embarked on a review of our debt market development with a view to identifying measures which can be adopted to help market development. on the demand side, everybody knows that the mainland of china is enjoying a rapid economic growth and business opportunities are mushrooming. the recent announcement by the mainland authorities of measures to liberalise portfolio investment outflows has marked the emergence of such kind of opportunity for hong kong. under these new rules, each chinese citizen is allowed, among other things, to invest in fixed income securities overseas within certain limits. we expect that this will help boost the demand for fixed income securities although we do not know exactly how much such investment outflows will be approved by the mainland authorities in the initial years. given our experience and achievements in financial services and the fact that we are the only international financial centre of china, i am sure that hong kong is well positioned to grasp the opportunity. apart from the initiatives and developments i just mentioned, i believe that it would be useful to highlight a few fundamental factors which make hong kong an ideal place for the bond market. the first is our free capital mobility. the absence of capital controls means that there are no restrictions on foreign enterprises using our capital markets to raise funds. foreign investors can also freely invest in our markets and easily remit the proceeds back home. secondly, our well - developed financial markets, including derivative markets, would allow issuers and investors to manage any interest rate risk or exchange rate risk effectively. thirdly, hong kong has a critical mass of financial institutions which stand ready to support issuers to tap the capital markets. hong kong is also an asset management centre thus providing a large investor base for debt instruments. last but not least, the absence of capital gains tax and interest withholding tax would also favour bond market development. our exceptional geographical, cultural and language advantages also make hong kong an ideal place to link up the mainland of china with the rest of world. on our part, the hkma will continue to play a leading role in enhancing the development of the debt market in hong kong, by removing market frictions and unnecessary restrictions, and by keeping up with the best practices adopted in other well - developed markets. lastly, i would like to thank euromoney again for inviting me to speak. i look forward to the continued cooperation with our partners on the healthy development of the bond market in this region. thank you.