Charles Li, CEO of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd, speaks during a news conference in Hong Kong on March 2. Photo: CFP

The operator of Hong Kong's stock exchange said on Tuesday it will "work very quickly" on a plan to link bond markets in the Chinese mainland with those in the Asia's financial center, giving global investors more access to yuan-related assets.

The concept will be similar to a landmark program that connected the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock markets in 2014, said Charles Li, chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd.

The plan will allow global banks to further develop offshore yuan interest rate products, Li said.

"So we probably will work very quickly, trying to build a bond connect in a similar fashion and manner to the stock connect," Li said.

The mainland said earlier this year it is opening up its interbank bond market to foreigners to provide more revenues for investment.

Moody's rating agency estimates China's onshore bond market had a total of 48.5 trillion yuan ($7.5 trillion) of outstanding bonds at end-2015, the third-largest globally after the US and Japan.

The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect was intended to open up mainland capital markets to foreign investors.

But an onshore stock market crash in 2015 and weak markets discouraged many potential investors, prompting the exchange to widen its focus to adding more currency and fixed-income products to its offerings.

On Tuesday, the Hong Kong bourse and Thomson Reuters signed an agreement for the creation of a new series of renminbi indices, with details to be announced in the next few weeks.

The new index series will offer global investors benchmarks that reflect the development of the yuan's effective exchange rate against other major currencies and are designed to be transparent and tradable.

Li said 2016 will be a big product year focusing on the yuan foreign exchange rate.

Reuters