London, Hong Kong boost financial cooperation on Belt and Road Initiative

The City of London is set to work more closely with China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on the Belt and Road Initiative, according to a press release from the City of London Corporation (CLC) on Monday.

The move comes as the CLC, the municipal governing body of the city, officially entered a partnership with the Infrastructure Financing Facilitation Office (IFFO) run by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) when British officials travelled to Hong Kong to attend this year's Hong Kong-London Financial Services Forum, aimed at boosting cooperation in such areas as the Belt and Road Initiative and green finance.

The IFFO, which currently has 75 partners, including major Chinese financial institutions and the China-Britain Business Council, was founded in July 2016 with the aim of promoting the development of Hong Kong as an infrastructure financing hub.

"Today's announcement is very significant. It shows that the City of London is committed to international cooperation in the Belt and Road (Initiative) and infrastructure investment," the CLC's Policy Chairman Catherine McGuinness said.

"This partnership gives us ability to learn from the IFFO's progress. I hope going forward we can form a deeper relationship with HKMA and the Hong Kong government, who we already enjoy strong links with, to work together more closely in areas like the Belt and Road (Initiative)," McGuinness said.

Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting countries along and beyond the ancient Silk Road trade routes. It comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.