The Director-General of Investment Promotion, Ms Alpha Lau, said, "We warmly welcome Chinalco Teasury setting up in Hong Kong. As the world's largest offshore Renminbi hub, Hong Kong can provide enterprises with cross-border Renminbi settlement, multi-currency fund management and risk hedging capabilities, while actively promoting the wider use of Renminbi in financing and commodity pricing. Coupled with the city's simple tax regime and free flow of capital, InvestHK hopes that Chinalco will use its treasury centre as a starting point to further establish commodity trading functions in Hong Kong, combining the city's pricing, clearing, financing, and warehousing networks with its own industrial strengths to create mutual synergies."
Ms Lau added, "This year, the HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) Government unveiled the Action Plan to Promote Development of Corporate Treasury Centres in Hong Kong. Its measures include revamping the tax regime and expanding Hong Kong's network of Comprehensive Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreements, which will make the city more competitive as a hub for corporate treasury centres. InvestHK will continue to provide comprehensive support to enterprises at every stage of going global and empower more Mainland enterprises to expand worldwide through Hong Kong."
The Chief Financial Officer of Chinalco, Ms Wang Xin, said, "As the group's overseas industrial presence continues to grow, we need an efficient platform to co-ordinate our offshore funds management. Hong Kong's foreign exchange market is the fourth largest in the world, and the city has well-developed channels for Renminbi financing and trade settlement. Together with the unique advantage of its connection to the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong will help the group manage its global funds in an integrated way and make its fund operations more efficient and effective."
Ms Wang added, "In the future, Chinalco Treasury will build a fully functional offshore fund management platform for the group. All funds will be pooled, all settlement will be centralised and all risks will be controlled."
InvestHK has been supporting Chinalco Treasury by providing market intelligence, introducing the tax and regulatory arrangements for corporate treasury centres, and connecting it with local industry stakeholders and professional service providers.
Founded in 2001, Chinalco is a key state-owned enterprise under the direct administration of the Central Government. Its industrial chain covers more than 20 non-ferrous metals, including aluminium, copper, lead and zinc, and it operates in over 20 countries and regions around the world. The group has been on the Fortune Global 500 list every year since 2008 and owns six listed companies. Under the Belt and Road Initiative, it has built a number of world-class mineral resources projects in places such as Guinea and Peru. Chinalco Treasury is wholly owned by Chinalco.
For more information about Chinalco, please visit www.chinalco.com.cn.
