On August 3, the Hong Kong Futures Exchange, a subsidiary of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, officially launched trading of five-year RMB Treasury bond futures, with related contracts becoming available for trading from today. This product fills a gap in the offshore market for Treasury bond futures, aiming to meet the growing demand for interest rate risk management and trading among overseas investors, marking a significant step in Hong Kong's efforts to build a comprehensive offshore RMB product ecosystem.

According to contract details released by HKEX, each contract has a face value of 500,000 RMB and adopts a cash settlement model. The contract months are the two nearest quarterly months, with daytime trading sessions from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM. The trading fee is set at 5 RMB per contract, with a 50% discount available to all market participants from the listing date until July 30, 2027.

Currently, China's bond market is vast and rapidly growing. The scale of bonds held by overseas institutions on China's interbank market has surged from 800 billion RMB in June 2017 to 3.2 trillion RMB by June 2026, with Treasury bonds accounting for about 2 trillion RMB. As the bond market continues to open up, overseas investors hold an increasing amount of Treasury bonds, driving a strong demand for risk management tools.

HKEX Chairman Carlson Tong said earlier when announcing the product plan that the five-year Treasury bond futures represent a key milestone in building Hong Kong's fixed income and currency product ecosystem, further promoting two-way capital flows between China and international markets. HKEX Group CEO Bonnie Chan noted that, as a crucial complement to the Bond Connect, Treasury bond futures, together with the well-functioning Swap Connect, will provide efficient risk management tools for overseas investors in China's bond market, reinforcing Hong Kong's position as a leading global offshore RMB hub.