Bank Indonesia, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the People’s Bank of China on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a cooperation framework aimed at promoting bilateral transactions in Indonesian rupiah (IDR) and offshore Chinese renminbi (CNH) between Indonesia and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Under the MoU, the three authorities will implement a bilateral currency transaction framework to facilitate the direct exchange and settlement of IDR and CNH in cross-border trade and investment activities among corporates and institutions in Indonesia and the Hong Kong SAR.
The central bank of Indonesia and the HKMA will lead the preparatory work, which includes drafting operational guidelines and identifying selected banks as Appointed Cross Currency Dealers. They aim to put the framework into operation by the end of this year.
“The signing of this MoU marks an important step in deepening monetary and financial cooperation among the three authorities,” said HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue Wai-man.
“Introducing the bilateral currency transaction framework for the Hong Kong SAR and Indonesia also marks a major breakthrough in promoting regional currency and renminbi use, and highlights the SAR’s value proposition as the offshore renminbi hub,” Yue added.
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The initiative is a follow-up to policy priorities set out in the city’s latest Policy Address and 2026-27 Budget, which sought to facilitate foreign exchange quotations and transactions between CNH and other regional currencies.
Economic ties between the Chinese mainland, the Hong Kong SAR, and Indonesia have strengthened over the past decade. According to the HKMA, trade between China and Indonesia has tripled, reaching $167 billion in 2025. The Hong Kong SAR’s foreign direct investment into the Southeast Asian country surged from around $1 billion to $11 billion over the same period, making the city Indonesia’s second-largest source of FDI.
As economic and trade links deepen, demand among businesses and financial institutions to use the rupiah and renminbi for trade, investment, and transactions has been steadily increasing, the HKMA said.
