Foreign Financial Institutions’ Roundtable and the Widening Use of Cross-border RMB: Shenzhen, Hetao and the Greater Bay Area
- On 21 September 2026 the People’s Bank of China held a roundtable with foreign financial institutions to hear their views and study further steps to improve the business environment and open the financial sector wider.
2026年9月21日，中国人民银行召开外资金融机构座谈会，听取外资金融机构意见建议，研究进一步优化营商环境、推动金融业高水平对外开放有关工作。
- In the first half of 2026 Shenzhen’s cross-border RMB settlement reached RMB 3.8 trillion, up 37.9 per cent year on year, keeping the city third nationwide by settlement volume.
2026年上半年，深圳跨境人民币结算规模达3.8万亿元，同比增长37.9%，结算总量稳居全国第三位。
- Cross-border RMB receipts and payments in goods trade in Shenzhen totalled RMB 836.4 billion, up 50.2 per cent, lifting their share of local and foreign currency receipts and payments by nearly 5 percentage points to 31 per cent.
深圳货物贸易跨境人民币收支合计8364亿元，同比增长50.2%，占本外币收支比重较上年同期提升近5个百分点至31%。
- On 12 June 2026 a pilot allowing foreign-invested enterprises and research institutions in the Hetao park to receive overseas RMB capital directly into an ordinary RMB account was put into effect, removing the need for a dedicated capital account.
2026年6月12日，外商直接投资人民币资本金入账便利化试点政策在河套落地实施，园区符合资质的外商投资企业、科研机构可直接使用人民币基本户或一般结算户接收境外人民币资本金，无需单独开立资本金专户。
- Shenzhen’s pilot banks for free trade accounts expanded to seven, with transaction value up more than 90 per cent year on year and more than 1,200 business entities served to date.
深圳自由贸易账户试点银行扩充至7家，账户交易金额同比增幅超90%，累计惠及各类经营主体超1200家。
- By the end of July 2026, Hong Kong and Macao residents had opened nearly 500,000 mainland bank accounts through agency witnessing in Guangdong, with over 104 million transactions worth more than RMB 55.7 billion.
截至2026年7月末，港澳居民通过代理见证在广东开立内地银行账户近50万户，交易超1.04亿笔、金额超557亿元。
- The Greater Bay Area’s “settle first, top up later” pilot for property purchase payments has supported more than 4,000 Hong Kong and Macao residents in remitting over RMB 10 billion, and the approach was endorsed by SAFE and promoted nationwide.
大湾区内地城市率先开展的购房结算支付便利化试点（”先结后补”），已支持4000多位港澳人士汇入购房款超100亿元，该做法获国家外汇管理局肯定并推广至全国。
- Guangdong has rolled out “Yuegang Retirement Link” and “Yueao Retirement Link 2.0”, launched the country’s first batch of cross-border RMB housing provident fund withdrawals in Guangzhou, and matched banks with 14 Nansha start-up parks.
广东推出”粤港养老通””粤澳养老通2.0″，在广州率先落地全国首批住房公积金跨境人民币提取业务，并组织银行机构与14个南沙创业园区精准对接。
Foreign Financial Institutions’ Roundtable and the Widening Use of Cross-border RMB: Shenzhen, Hetao and the Greater Bay Area | 外资金融机构座谈会与跨境人民币应用场景拓展：深圳、河套与大湾区实践
Overview
On 21 September 2026, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) held a roundtable with foreign financial institutions. The central bank said it listened to the views and suggestions of those institutions and studied further work on improving the business environment and advancing the high-level opening-up of the financial sector.
The roundtable is a signal-setting event rather than a rule-making one, but it sits alongside a set of concrete, measurable developments in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). Together they describe the direction in which cross-border RMB use is being extended: from trade settlement, where the numbers are already large, into capital-account entry, account opening and household-level financial services.
This note sets out the roundtable, then the Shenzhen and Guangdong figures, and finally the practical implications for foreign-invested groups and financial institutions operating in the region.
The roundtable and its context
The 21 September 2026 roundtable is the clearest recent official statement of intent on the financial-sector opening-up agenda. The PBOC’s stated purpose was twofold: to hear from foreign financial institutions and to study how to further optimise the business environment and promote the high-level opening-up of the financial industry.
For foreign banks, insurers and asset managers with a China presence, the significance lies in the channel. A roundtable is a mechanism through which operational feedback — on licensing, on cross-border fund movement, on the practical friction of doing business — reaches the regulator directly. The published account does not list individual participants or commitments, so the event is best read as a statement of engagement rather than a list of measures.
Shenzhen: the scale of cross-border RMB settlement
Shenzhen supplies the hard numbers. In the first half of 2026, the city’s cross-border RMB settlement reached RMB 3.8 trillion, up 37.9 per cent year on year. The settlement total kept Shenzhen third nationwide.
The composition matters more than the headline. Cross-border RMB receipts and payments in goods trade totalled RMB 836.4 billion, up 50.2 per cent year on year. That growth lifted the RMB share of the city’s local and foreign currency receipts and payments by nearly 5 percentage points, to 31 per cent.
In other words, roughly one yuan in three of Shenzhen’s cross-border goods-trade settlement is now denominated in RMB. For a trading or manufacturing group with a Shenzhen entity, the practical effect is that RMB invoicing is no longer a niche choice; it is a mainstream settlement option with an established banking infrastructure behind it.
Hetao: capital-account entry without a dedicated account
The most structurally interesting change is at the capital-account level. On 12 June 2026, a pilot for the facilitation of RMB capital-account entry for foreign direct investment was put into effect in the Hetao park.
Under the pilot, qualifying foreign-invested enterprises and research institutions in the park may receive overseas RMB capital directly into an ordinary RMB basic account or general settlement account. They no longer need to open and maintain a dedicated capital-account for this purpose.
That is a meaningful reduction in administrative overhead. A dedicated capital account carries ongoing obligations — separate bookkeeping, ongoing reporting, and the need to manage the account even when there is no capital movement. Allowing ordinary RMB accounts to receive capital removes a standing compliance task for the entities that qualify, and shortens the path from remittance to usable funds.
Free trade accounts and their reach
Shenzhen’s free trade account pilot has also widened. The number of pilot banks expanded to seven. Account transaction value rose by more than 90 per cent year on year, and the accounts had served more than 1,200 business entities cumulatively.
Free trade accounts are the plumbing that makes cross-border RMB and foreign-currency movement more flexible for entities that qualify for them. The doubling of transaction value, on a base that already covered a thousand-plus entities, indicates that the accounts are being used for real operational flows rather than being opened and left idle.
Guangdong: household-level and cross-border services
Guangdong’s data extend the story beyond corporate treasury into household finance. As of the end of July 2026, Hong Kong and Macao residents had opened nearly 500,000 mainland bank accounts through agency witnessing in Guangdong. Those accounts recorded over 104 million transactions, worth more than RMB 55.7 billion.
The property-purchase channel is the notable case. Greater Bay Area mainland cities were the first to run a “settle first, top up later” pilot for property purchase settlement and payment. It has supported more than 4,000 Hong Kong and Macao residents in remitting over RMB 10 billion of purchase funds. SAFE recognised the approach and promoted it nationwide, with the eligible population extended to overseas individuals generally.
Alongside these, Guangdong introduced “Yuegang Retirement Link” and “Yueao Retirement Link 2.0”, launched the country’s first batch of cross-border RMB housing provident fund withdrawal services in Guangzhou, and organised banks to match precisely with 14 Nansha start-up parks, offering simplified account opening to Hong Kong and Macao entrepreneurs.
Practical implications
Three points follow for foreign-invested groups and financial institutions.
First, the RMB share of goods-trade settlement in Shenzhen has reached 31 per cent. Treasury teams that still default to foreign-currency invoicing should treat RMB as a fully comparable option, particularly where the counterparty is in the Greater Bay Area.
Second, the Hetao capital-account pilot removes a dedicated-account requirement for qualifying entities. Groups with, or considering, a research or investment presence in Hetao should confirm eligibility, because the change reduces recurring administrative work rather than only one-off set-up cost.
Third, the free trade account expansion and the household-level services in Guangdong point in the same direction: the infrastructure for moving RMB across the boundary is being broadened at both the corporate and the individual level. For banks, that is a service-design question; for corporate groups, it is a treasury-design question.
Related considerations
The roundtable and the regional measures are complementary rather than identical. The roundtable is national in scope and engagement-focused; the Shenzhen and Guangdong figures are regional and operational. Read together, they suggest that the financial-sector opening-up agenda is being advanced through both dialogue with foreign institutions and concrete facilitation measures on the ground.
One caution on scope: this note covers cross-border RMB use and the related Greater Bay Area facilitation measures only. The broader data-zone proposals discussed in the region are a separate topic and are not analysed here.
Sources
- 国家外汇管理局深圳市分局 — 深圳跨境人民币结算与自由贸易账户试点情况: https://www.safe.gov.cn/shenzhen/2026/0924/2575.html
- 财联社 — 人民银行召开外资金融机构座谈会及外资银行资金池业务: https://www.163.com/dy/article/L7EV6ABC05568W0A.html
- 金融时报 — 人民银行广东省分行行长张奎谈大湾区金融服务便利化: https://so.html5.qq.com/page/real/search_news?docid=70000021_3696abb1fe108352
- 广东省粤港澳合作促进会 — 粤港澳大湾区金融服务与数据特区方案: https://www.ygacjh.org.cn/Item/5181.aspx
Related reading
- see also: mnc-cash-pool-relaxation
- see also: gba-cross-border-finance
外资金融机构座谈会与跨境人民币应用场景拓展：深圳、河套与大湾区实践
概述
2026年9月21日，中国人民银行召开外资金融机构座谈会。人民银行表示，会议听取外资金融机构的意见建议，并研究进一步优化营商环境、推动金融业高水平对外开放的有关工作。
座谈会是释放信号的活动，而非制定规则的文件，但它与粤港澳大湾区一批可量化、可核实的进展并行。两者共同描述出跨境人民币使用正在延伸的方向：从规模已经很大的贸易结算，拓展到资本项目入账、账户开立与居民层面的金融服务。
本文先介绍座谈会，再梳理深圳与广东的数据，最后说明其对在华外资集团与金融机构的实务含义。
座谈会及其背景
2026年9月21日的座谈会，是近期关于金融业对外开放议程最清晰的一次官方表态。人民银行说明的目的有两层：一是听取外资金融机构的意见，二是研究如何进一步优化营商环境、推动金融业高水平对外开放。
对在中国设有机构的外资银行、保险与资产管理公司而言，意义在于渠道。座谈会是一种机制，使经营层面的反馈——关于牌照、关于跨境资金流动、关于实际经营中的摩擦——能够直接到达监管机构。公开报道并未列明参会机构或具体承诺，因此该活动更适合被理解为一次沟通机制的表态，而非一份措施清单。
深圳：跨境人民币结算的规模
深圳提供了硬数据。2026年上半年，深圳跨境人民币结算规模达3.8万亿元，同比增长37.9%，结算总量稳居全国第三位。
结构比总量更值得关注。货物贸易跨境人民币收支合计8364亿元，同比增长50.2%。这一增长使人民币在深圳本外币收支中的占比提升近5个百分点，达到31%。
换言之，深圳货物贸易跨境结算中，大约每三元就有一元以人民币计价。对在深圳设有主体的贸易或制造集团而言，实际影响是：人民币计价不再是小众选择，而是有成熟银行基础设施支撑的主流结算选项。
河套：无需专户的资本金入账
最具结构性意义的变化在资本项目层面。2026年6月12日，外商直接投资人民币资本金入账便利化试点政策在河套园区落地实施。
在该试点下，园区内符合资质的外商投资企业与科研机构，可直接使用人民币基本户或一般结算户接收境外人民币资本金，无需为此单独开立资本金专户。
这显著降低了行政管理负担。资本金专户附带持续义务——独立记账、持续报送，以及即便没有资金进出也需维护账户。允许普通人民币账户接收资本金，为符合条件的主体去掉了一项长期合规工作，并缩短了从汇入到资金可用的路径。
自由贸易账户及其覆盖
深圳的自由贸易账户试点也在扩容。试点银行扩充至7家，账户交易金额同比增幅超90%，累计惠及各类经营主体超1200家。
自由贸易账户是让符合条件的主体更灵活地进行跨境人民币与外币资金往来的基础设施。在已经覆盖一千多家主体的基数上，交易金额实现同比翻倍以上增长，说明这些账户被用于真实的经营资金流，而非开了户就闲置。
广东：居民层面与跨境服务
广东的数据把叙事从企业财资延伸到居民金融。截至2026年7月末，港澳居民通过代理见证在广东开立内地银行账户近50万户，这些账户累计交易超1.04亿笔、金额超557亿元。
购房渠道是其中值得关注的案例。大湾区内地城市率先开展购房结算支付便利化试点，即”先结后补“，已支持4000多位港澳人士汇入购房款超100亿元。国家外汇管理局肯定了这一做法并推广至全国，适用人群扩展到境外个人。
此外，广东推出”粤港养老通“”粤澳养老通2.0“，在广州率先落地全国首批住房公积金跨境人民币提取业务，并组织银行机构与14个南沙创业园区精准对接，为港澳创业青年提供简易开户服务。
实务含义
对在华外资集团与金融机构而言，有三点。
其一，深圳货物贸易结算中的人民币占比已达31%。仍默认使用外币计价的财资团队，应把人民币视为完全可比的选项，尤其是交易对手位于大湾区的情形。
其二，河套资本金试点为符合条件的主体去掉了专户要求。已在或考虑在河套布局研发或投资主体的集团，应确认自身是否符合资质，因为这一变化减少的是经常性行政工作，而不只是一次性开办成本。
其三，自由贸易账户扩容与广东的居民层面服务指向同一方向：跨境人民币流动的基础设施，正在企业层面与个人层面同时拓宽。对银行而言，这是服务设计问题；对企业集团而言，这是财资设计问题。
相关考虑
座谈会与区域举措是互补而非同一回事。座谈会是全国范围、以沟通为主；深圳与广东的数据是区域性的、偏操作层面。并读两者可以看出，金融业对外开放议程正通过两条路径推进：与外资机构的对话，以及落地层面的具体便利化措施。
关于范围有一点提示：本文只涉及跨境人民币使用及大湾区相关的便利化措施。该区域讨论中的更广泛的数据特区方案属于另一主题，本文不展开分析。
来源
- 国家外汇管理局深圳市分局 — 深圳跨境人民币结算与自由贸易账户试点情况: https://www.safe.gov.cn/shenzhen/2026/0924/2575.html
- 财联社 — 人民银行召开外资金融机构座谈会及外资银行资金池业务: https://www.163.com/dy/article/L7EV6ABC05568W0A.html
- 金融时报 — 人民银行广东省分行行长张奎谈大湾区金融服务便利化: https://so.html5.qq.com/page/real/search_news?docid=70000021_3696abb1fe108352
- 广东省粤港澳合作促进会 — 粤港澳大湾区金融服务与数据特区方案: https://www.ygacjh.org.cn/Item/5181.aspx
相关阅读
- 见：跨国公司本外币跨境资金集中运营业务实操指南（mnc-cash-pool-relaxation）
- 见：大湾区跨境金融服务便利化（gba-cross-border-finance）