Finance goes cross-border

Financial integration moved up a gear in the Greater Bay Area during the week, with Hong Kong and Macau reinforcing their niche roles inside China’s capital-market architecture. On January 26, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced the doubling of its RMB Trade Finance Liquidity Facility to ¥200 billion, responding to strong demand from banks supporting GBA firms engaged in cross-border trade and investment. Days later, Macau confirmed the first public issuance of mainland policy-bank bonds in its market, a ¥5.5 billion offering by China Development Bank, framed as part of Macau’s ambition to serve Lusophone and Belt and Road financing. Together, the moves highlight a deliberate division of labour – Hong Kong as the offshore RMB hub, Macau as a specialist bond and regional-finance platform – supporting real-economy growth across the nine mainland GBA cities.