Zhitong Finance App learned that on October 12, the China Foreign Exchange Trading Center published an announcement that in September, the offshore (CNH) RMB spot exchange rate appreciated against the US dollar, and the spot exchange rate of the onshore (CNY) RMB against the US dollar appreciated; the average daily average price difference (absolute value of CNY - CNH) was 30BP, a decrease of 3BP from the previous month; the CFETS RMB exchange rate index and the RMB exchange rate index with reference to the BIS currency basket and the reference SDR currency basket rose by 1.31%, 1.34%, and 1.44%, respectively, from the end of the previous month. The amount of offshore RMB bonds issued increased compared to the previous month. CNH HIBOR's overnight, 7-day, 3-month, and 1-year terms increased by 8 BP, 5 BP, and 1 BP, respectively, from the end of the previous month, and were basically unchanged.
The original text is as follows:
Overview of the overseas RMB market in September 2026
Executive summary
In September, the offshore (CNH) RMB spot exchange rate appreciated, and the onshore (CNY) RMB spot exchange rate appreciated; the average daily spread (absolute value of CNY - CNH) was 30BP, a decrease of 3BP from the previous month; the CFETS RMB exchange rate index and the RMB exchange rate index, which referred to the BIS currency basket and the reference SDR currency basket, rose by 1.31%, 1.34%, and 1.44%, respectively, from the end of the previous month. The amount of offshore RMB bonds issued increased compared to the previous month. CNH HIBOR's overnight, 7-day, 3-month, and 1-year terms increased by 8 BP, 5 BP, and 1 BP, respectively, from the end of the previous month, and were basically unchanged.
1 RMB deposits outside Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan
In August 2026, the size of RMB deposits in the Hong Kong and Taiwan offshore markets decreased compared to the previous month. Among them, the amount of RMB deposits in Hong Kong was RMB 1101,496 billion, a decrease of 2.1% from the previous month, while the amount of RMB deposits in Taiwan was RMB 109.898 billion, an increase of 3.2% over the previous month. The settlement amount for cross-border trade in Hong Kong was $1537.623 billion, an increase of 11.1% over the previous month. In August 2026, the volume of RMB deposits in Macau was MOP 73.739 billion (RMB 61,429 billion), an increase of 4.4% over the previous month (4.1% increase in RMB).
2 Offshore RMB Foreign Exchange Market
In September, the offshore (CNH) RMB spot exchange rate appreciated against the US dollar, and the onshore (CNY) RMB spot exchange rate appreciated against the US dollar.
Spot market: On September 30, the CNH spot exchange rate against the US dollar closed at 6.7089, up 0.14% from the end of the previous month; the CNY spot exchange rate closed at 6.7053, up 0.22% from the end of the previous month; the average daily spread (absolute value of CNY-CNH) was 30BP, a decrease of 3BP from the previous month. The CFETS RMB exchange rate index and the RMB exchange rate index for the reference BIS currency basket and the reference SDR currency basket were 103.20, 110.61, and 98.06, respectively, up 1.31%, 1.34%, and 1.44% from the end of the previous month.
Exchange rate derivatives market: In terms of price, CNH 1-year swap points closed at -2102 BP, down 278 BP from the end of the previous month; CNY 1-year swap points closed at -2112BP, down 289 BP from the end of the previous month. The absolute value of the average onshore and offshore daily swap spread (CNH-CNY) is 13BP, up 2BP from the previous month. In terms of volume, in September 2026, the volume of USD/CNH standard futures contracts on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange was 1.646,500, an increase of 19.9% over the previous month, and 34,500 unliquidated contracts at the end of the month, an increase of 7.3% over the previous month. 30 USD/CNH options contracts were traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, an increase of 20.0% over the previous month, and 126 unclosed positions at the end of the month, a decrease of 40.9% from the previous month. In August 2026, the trading volume of standard USD/CNH futures contracts on the SGX was 4.1381 million, a decrease of 0.4% from the previous month, and 247,300 unliquidated contracts at the end of the month, an increase of 15.5% over the previous month. 11,756 USD/CNH options contracts were traded on the SGX, an increase of 133.6% over the previous month, and 18,902 unclosed positions at the end of the month, an increase of 78.9% over the previous month.
3 Offshore RMB bond market
In September, the offshore RMB bond market issued 97 bonds, a decrease of 3 from the previous month. The amount issued was RMB 184.227 billion, an increase of 68.8% over the previous month.
4 Offshore RMB currency market
At the end of September, overnight, 7-day, 3-month, and 1-year CNH HIBOR closed at 1.4621%, 1.4682%, 1.6361%, and 1.6694%, respectively, up 8BP, 5BP, and 1BP, respectively, from the end of the previous month, which was basically unchanged. The overnight, 7-day, 3-month, and 1-year average interest spreads (HIBOR-SHIBOR) were -4BP, 0BP, 20BP, and 19BP, respectively. They decreased by 2 BP, 2 BP, 1 BP, and 2 BP, respectively, from the previous month's average.
At the end of September, the 7-day, 3-month, and 1-year CNH forward implied yields closed at 1.3024%, 1.2555%, and 1.3538%, respectively, up 16 BP, down 6 BP, and 1 BP, respectively, from the end of the previous month.
5 Trends in the domestic interbank market of overseas institutions
By the end of September, the total number of overseas institutions participating in the domestic interbank foreign exchange market reached 262, an increase of 5 over the previous month. In the foreign exchange spot market, there are 30 overseas clearing banks (1 increase over the previous month), 77 overseas participating banks (unchanged from the previous month), and 70 overseas central bank institutions (unchanged from the previous month).
The total number of overseas institutions and their products participating in the domestic interbank local currency market reached 5,895 (only), an increase of 23 (only) over the end of last month. Among them, 187 central bank institutions, 494 commercial banks, 254 non-bank financial institutions, 43 medium- and long-term institutional investors, and financial institutions issued 4,917 investment products, an increase of 6, a decrease of 10, an increase of 3, a decrease of 1, and an increase of 25, respectively, from the end of last month.
In September, in the domestic interbank foreign exchange market, the total turnover of overseas institutions was 2261,696 billion yuan, an increase of 6.23% over the previous month. Among them, the foreign exchange spot volume was RMB 152,460 billion, up 16.2%; the volume of foreign exchange derivatives was RMB 846.319 billion, up 33.5% from the previous month; and the volume of foreign currency lending and foreign currency repurchases was RMB 126.2917 billion, a decrease of 7.4% over the previous month. In the domestic interbank money market, the total turnover of overseas institutions was 1308.520 billion yuan, a decrease of 9.7% over the previous month. In the domestic interbank bond market, the total transactions of overseas institutions totaled 1197,307 billion yuan, a decrease of 14.9% over the previous month. Among them, the transaction amount of overseas central bank institutions was 18.066 billion yuan, a decrease of 14.8%; the transaction amount of overseas commercial banks was 828.933 billion yuan, a decrease of 15.0%; the transaction amount of overseas non-bank financial institutions (including overseas medium- and long-term institutional investors) was 55.839 billion yuan, an increase of 10.7% over the previous month; the transaction amount of investment products issued by overseas financial institutions was 123.469 billion yuan, a decrease of 22.8% from the previous month.
This article was compiled from the official account of China Money Market, Zhitong Finance Editor: Chen Wenfang.