Chinalco sets up treasury centre in Hong Kong

Aluminum Corporation of China, known as Chinalco, has established a corporate treasury centre in Hong Kong to manage the state-owned giant's offshore funds, Invest Hong Kong announced on Friday. The new entity, Chinalco Treasury Management Co Ltd, will centrally manage the group's offshore funds and handle offshore financing, exchange rate and interest rate risk management, as well as integrated financial services. Director-General of Investment Promotion Alpha Lau said the move demonstrates Hong Kong's strengths as the first port of call for mainland firms going global and as a hub for corporate treasury centres. "As the world's largest offshore Renminbi hub, Hong Kong can provide enterprises with cross-border Renminbi settlement, multi-currency fund management and risk hedging capabilities," Lau said. She added that she hopes Chinalco will use the treasury centre as a starting point to further establish commodity trading functions in Hong Kong, combining the city's pricing, clearing, financing, and warehousing networks with the company's own industrial strengths to create synergy. Chinalco Chief Financial Officer Wang Xin said Hong Kong's foreign exchange market – the fourth largest in the world – together with its well-developed channels for Renminbi financing and trade settlement, and its unique advantage of connecting to the mainland, will help the group manage...