terms of holdings. foreign participation in the derivatives market also has room for growth. for decades hong kong has been the gateway connecting mainland china and international markets. we are pleased to see the continued opening up of the onshore market for direct access by global investors. at the same time, hong kong offers a unique value proposition, in that we provide an additional pathway for investors to tap the onshore market via hong kong. in short, we give investors a choice a€ “ a choice that encompasses all the known features that are familiar to global investors, from legal documentation to language to market practices and efficiency. 2 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches that choice is valued by investors. today, around 70 % of international investors'holdings of chinese a shares is through the north - bound stock connect, and around two - third of the trading of chinese onshore bonds is conducted through the north - bound bond connect. another exciting prospect is south - bound traffic. as china's economy continues to grow, there will be an increasing need for its corporates and households to diversify their investments, in terms of asset classes, currency, and geography. here again, hong kong provides a unique platform for financial diversification. to capture these opportunities, hong kong needs to continuously up its game. central to the effort is to further develop our offshore rmb business and risk management function. today hong kong is the leading offshore rmb hub with more than half of the global liquidity pool and a market - based ecosystem. hong kong now handles 70 % of all offshore rmb payments. on a daily basis our rtgs system handles 1. 7 trillion yuan, which already exceeds the transaction volume of the hong kong dollar. daily rmb fx turnover exceeds 190 billion us dollars. there is much scope to grow. china now accounts for 18 % of the world's gdp and 13 % of global trade. the rmb is used in around 3 % of global payments and its share of official reserves is around 3 %. there is still a way to go for the rmb to become an international trading and reserve currency that is commensurate with china's economic strength. the momentum is strong. take trade settlement, for example. the share of rmb used in china's external trade payments has increased from 15 % in 2019 to 20 % in 2022. the divergent monetary conditions between the us and china have also incentivised corporates to use rmb as a funding currency

because of lower interest rates. in 2022, dim sum bond issuance in hong kong more than doubled to 330 billion yuan. in the first eight months of this year, dim sum bond issuance amounted to 343 billion yuan, up 62 % year on year. rmb loans have also seen impressive growth. in the first seven months this year, rmb loans increased by 74 %, to over 330 billion yuan. in recent years, hong kong has been playing a critical role in supporting china's climate transition through green and sustainable finance. last year, mainland issuers accounted for over 80 % of the green and sustainable bond issuances in hong kong. these issuances have enriched the range of green and rmb financial products available in the hong kong market. in terms of portfolio investment, rmb assets offer good diversification opportunities because of their low correlation with the global markets : 0. 28 for equities and 0. 1 for bonds. 3 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches as the wider international use of the rmb gathers pace, there is rising demand for various yuan - related risk and liquidity management tools, both onshore and offshore. the introduction of close - out netting enforceability under china's futures and derivatives law is a significant development. in this regard, isda's continued input to the development and implementation of the rules will make a meaningful contribution to aligning such rules with international norms. on our part, the hkma and the sfc will continue our engagement with mainland authorities and market stakeholders to enhance global investors'access to more diverse risk and liquidity management tools. the recent launch of the swap connect was a case in point. we are now actively working on offshore treasury bond futures as well as collateral management using rmb bonds. in this process, we will continue to count on isda as an important partner in ensuring market transparency and efficiency. another important piece of our market infrastructure development work is the hkma's multi - year enhancement plan to modernise hong kong's central moneymarket unit, or cmu in short. our objective is to upgrade the cmu into an international central securities depository in asia. a modernised cmu will better support the connectivity between the chinese and international bond markets in respect of cross - border clearing, settlement and custodian operations. the enhanced service capabilities will provide additional choice for investors from the mainland and abroad to settle debt securities more efficiently, which will in turn lower cross -