The chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Eddie Yue, has welcomed news that the People's Bank of China will unveil various measures to boost financial collaboration between the SAR and the mainland.

PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng made the announcement during a speech on the first day of the Asian Financial Forum.

The measures include the linking of Hong Kong's Fast Payment System (FPS) to the mainland's Internet Banking Payment System (IBPS).

“Residents in the two places can make real-time cross-boundary payments using their phone number,” Yue told reporters after attending the forum.

“We expect to launch part of the service in the middle of the year, and will expand the scheme slowly and in an orderly manner, based on our actual implementation situation and experience.”

Other measures include the launch of a trade finance scheme to help enterprises trading in yuan improve liquidity.

There will be 100 billion yuan available in currency swaps for one, three and six months.

Yue said the scheme will be rolled out by February.

From Tuesday, the clearing time for Southbound Trading under Bond Connect will be pushed back by one hour to 4.30pm, while mainland investors will also be allowed to buy securities of more currency types, including the US dollar and the euro.

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui, for his part, said the various measures show the central bank’s support in consolidating Hong Kong’s role as a financial centre.