Hong Kong to enhance cross-border transfers for residents who work, live in mainland China

Name: SCMP
Telephone: +852-2680-8888

Hong Kong’s monetary authority will work with the Chinese central bank to enhance cross-border remittance services to make it easier for Hongkongers who work or retire on the mainland

Reading Time:3 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

A sign of digital yuan (e-CNY) during the 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijng on Sept. 5, 2021. Photo: Xinhua

Enoch Yiu

Published: 7:08pm, 28 Jun 2024Updated: 7:58pm, 28 Jun 2024

Hong Kong’s monetary authority plans to sign an agreement with the Chinese central bank to find ways to enhance cross-border remittance services to make it easier for Hongkongers who work or retire on the mainland.

The planned agreement with the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is expected to discuss ways to make it easier to transfer more money across the border, said Colin Pou Hak-wan, the executive director of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).

“At present, one can only remit up to 80,000 yuan (US$11,015) per day from Hong Kong to the mainland, so some people need to split their remittance over many days to transfer enough money to meet their daily expenses or healthcare needs,” Pou said. “These are some of the pain points faced by some Hongkongers who move to work or retire on the mainland.”

The remittance limit, or quota, will be decided by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), while the PBOC and the HKMA work out ways to make the remittance process easier, akin to the relaxation announced in February to facilitate fund transfers for buying property, said the HKMA’s deputy chief executive Darryl Chan.

Colin Pou Hak-wan, Executive Director (Financial Infrastructure) of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (centre) during the launch of the 2018 New Series Hong Kong Banknotes on 11 December 2018. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

“There were about 200 cases in the past few months of cross-border payments by Hongkongers for buying property in the Greater Bay Area,” Chan said. “The successful experience led us to move forward to cover other types of large remittance to support their living costs, or healthcare, on the mainland.”

The relaxation of cross-border payments for buying homes in the Greater Bay Area was one of the six policies announced by the PBOC in January to support Hong Kong as China’s global financial hub.