Joint Clearing Facility for HK Dollar Bills Presented in Guangdong Province and Shenzhen

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced today (Friday) that agreement had been reached with the Guangzhou Branch of the People's Bank of China on extending the types of bills to be cleared under the joint operations of Hong Kong dollar bill clearing between Guangdong/Hong Kong and Shenzhen/Hong Kong to include Hong Kong dollar cashier's orders and demand drafts as well.

The Guangdong/Hong Kong and Shenzhen/Hong Kong Joint Clearing Facilities refer to the clearing and settlement of Hong Kong dollar bills drawn against banks in Hong Kong and presented for clearing in Guangdong or Shenzhen. Through the facilities, clearing and settling of Hong Kong dollar bills presented in Guangdong or Shenzhen will take two working days only.

The Joint Clearing Facilities were inaugurated in Shenzhen and Guangdong in January 1998 and October 2000 respectively. The clearing systems have been functioning smoothly, with gradual increase in their processing volumes. Between January and July 2001, a total of 63,000 cheques involving HK$6.5 billion were processed through these facilities, promoting economic benefits and development in both Guangdong and Hong Kong.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin Fung, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
31 August 2001