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Alibaba, Tencent, Ping An among 24 Hong Kong-listed stocks to kick off Dual Currency Model in dollars and yuan

  • The 24 listed companies have a combined capitalisation of US$1.5 trillion, or 35 per cent of the Hong Kong stock market
  • The yuan-share counter model is expected to boost turnover by attracting overseas investors and contribute to the Chinese currency’s internationalisation

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Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po (sixth right) and HKEX’s chairwoman Laura Cha (fifth left) at the ceremony to launch the Dual Currency Model on the Hong Kong stock exchange on June 19, 2023. Photo: Sam Tsang
Enoch Yiu

Hong Kong kicked off a much-heralded plan on Monday to allow stocks listed on its exchange to be quoted in the local dollar and the yuan, taking another step to increase the city’s appeal amid a downbeat market.

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Some 163 million yuan (US$22.7 million) worth of shares changed hands after bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) kicked off the dual counter model, which allows 24 firms to offer their shares denominated in yuan, concurrent with quotations in Hong Kong dollars. The group includes AIA Group, Tencent Holdings, Xiaomi, Meituan and the Post’s owner Alibaba Group Holding.

Yuan-denominated transactions of the 24 companies stood at 0.6 per cent of their Hong Kong dollar counters’ turnover at HK$29 billion, according to HKEX data. Still, both the exchange and local brokers deemed it as a good debut.

“It is a good start,” said Gordon Tsui Luen-on, director of the Hong Kong Sec­urities and Investment Institute. “Today’s transactions are a small step and it will only get bigger as the yuan’s internationalisation progresses.”

China Mobile led the day’s proceedings, with 55.2 million yuan worth of shares changing hands. Tencent ranked second at 36.62 million yuan, followed by Ping An Insurance in third place at 17 million yuan. CNOOC at 10.08 million yuan and Meituan at 9.28 million yuan rounded off the top five companies with the highest turnover.

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