Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing, the world's largest exchange by market value, is positioning itself for the anticipated internationalisation of China's currency and wants to align trading hours with rival exchanges on the mainland, its new chief executive said.

“Renminbi-denominated products are the future, there's no doubt about it,” said Charles Li, who predicted a “tug of war” between market demand for more renminbi investment products and cautious Chinese regulators.

Chinese and Hong Kong companies have been allowed to issue renminbi bonds in Hong Kong. Exchange-traded funds linked to China's A-share markets are traded on HKEx. But the Chinese authorities have not yet authorised the launch of renminbi-denominated products for trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange.