93-811: The Hong Kong dollar ( Chinese : 港元 , sign : HK$ ; code : HKD ) is the official currency of Hong Kong . It is subdivided into 100 cents . Historically, it was also subdivided into 1000 mils . The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is the monetary authority of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong dollar. Three commercial banks are licensed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to issue their own banknotes for general circulation in Hong Kong. These banks, HSBC , Bank of China , and Standard Chartered , issue their own designs of banknotes in denominations of HK$ 20, HK$ 50, HK$ 100, HK$ 150, HK$ 500, and HK$ 1000, with all designs being similar to one another in
186-509: A certain extent in South Korea , remain virtually identical to traditional characters, with variations between the two forms largely stylistic. There has historically been a debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters . Because the simplifications are fairly systematic, it is possible to convert computer-encoded characters between the two sets, with the main issue being ambiguities in simplified representations resulting from
279-401: A floating currency system. On 17 October 1983, the Hong Kong dollar was officially pegged to the U.S. dollar at a rate of HK$ 7.8 = US$ 1, officially switching back to the currency board system . The peg of Hong Kong dollar to the U.S. dollar in 1983 actually took place in the context of Sino-British negotiation regarding the future of Hong Kong after 1997. Due to the lack of public confidence in
372-526: A new series of banknotes on New Year's Day (1 January) 1993 at stroke of midnight HKT in denominations of $ 10 , $ 20 , $ 25 , $ 50 , $ 100 , $ 500 and $ 1000 . After a less-than-successful trial from 1994 to 2002 to move the HK$ 10 denomination from the banknote format (issued by the banks) to the coin format (Government-issued), HK$ 10 notes are currently the only denomination issued by the HKMA, having acquired
465-545: A range is to avoid the HK dollar being used as a proxy for speculative bets on a renminbi revaluation. In formal Cantonese , the 圓 or 元 ( Cantonese Yale : yùn ) character is used. In informal Cantonese, 蚊 ( Cantonese Yale : mān ) is used. The use of the character 蚊 ( mān ) originate from the tone change of the currency denomination used in China in imperial times 文 ( Cantonese Yale : màn ), which
558-524: A re-valuation of Hong Kong dollar from $ 16 to $ 14.5, a 10% re-valuation against the pound and 5.7% devaluation against the US dollar. The unilateral devaluation sparked a circle of grievances among local business communities as well as colonial officials in Hong Kong because the official reserves and private savings in sterling were substantial from Hong Kong. In the 1950–60s, Hong Kong accumulated significant reserves in sterling with its economic growth, money supply
651-694: A separate entity. The bank was greatly affected by the Second World War . Their UK office had an established sports ground in East Molesey in Surrey, which included an active rugby club. The site had once been a large country estate and the house known as the ‘Wilderness’. It was demolished when the park was developed into a high-class residential estate in 1876. The new ‘Wilderness’ was a red brick house, built in 1881 in Jacobean style. In 1929
744-812: Is 産 (also the accepted form in Japan and Korea), while in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan the accepted form is 產 (also the accepted form in Vietnamese chữ Nôm ). The PRC tends to print material intended for people in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and overseas Chinese in traditional characters. For example, versions of the People's Daily are printed in traditional characters, and both People's Daily and Xinhua have traditional character versions of their website available, using Big5 encoding. Mainland companies selling products in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan use traditional characters in order to communicate with consumers;
837-525: Is backed by one of the world's largest foreign exchange reserves , which is over 7 times the amount of money supplied in circulation or about 48% of Hong Kong dollar M3 at the end of April 2016. Following the Internationalization of the renminbi in the late 2000s and the inclusion of the Renminbi in the special drawing rights , there has been some debates to peg the Hong Kong dollar with
930-426: Is backed with US dollars at the linked exchange rate. The resources for the backing are kept in Hong Kong's exchange fund , which is among the largest official reserves in the world. Hong Kong also has huge deposits of US dollars, with official foreign currency reserves of US$ 361 billion as of March 2016. In a speech addressing the issue of who determines the monetary policy in Hong Kong on 13 May 2002, Tony Latter, in
1023-476: Is called 1 hou ( 毫 ) in Cantonese . To express prices in informal Cantonese, for example HK$ 7.80, the phrase is 七個八 ( Cantonese Yale : chāt go baat ; lit. 'seven units eight'); in financial terms, where integer values in cents exist, e.g., HK$ 6.75, the phrase is 六個七毫半 ( Cantonese Yale : luhk go chāt hòu bun ; lit. 'six units and seven dime half'; fives in cents
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#17327836524731116-516: Is normally expressed as “half”, unless followed by another five, such as 55 cents when preceded by a dollar value); $ 7.08 is 七蚊零八仙 ( Cantonese Yale : chāt mān lìng baat sīn ; lit. 'seven dollars zero eight cents'). In Hong Kong, the following are slang terms used to refer to various amounts of money: Some of these terms are also used by overseas Chinese to refer their local currency. A slang term in English sometimes used for
1209-563: Is pegged at 1 Hong Kong dollar to 1.03 Macanese patacas , and is generally accepted at par or MOP 1.00 for retail purchases. When Hong Kong was established as a free trading port in 1841, there was no local currency in everyday circulation. Foreign currencies such as Indian rupees , Spanish or Mexican 8 reales , and Chinese cash coins circulated. Since 1825, it had been the policy of the British government to introduce sterling silver coinage to all of its colonies, and to this end, in 1845,
1302-493: The Chinese Commercial News , World News , and United Daily News all use traditional characters, as do some Hong Kong–based magazines such as Yazhou Zhoukan . The Philippine Chinese Daily uses simplified characters. DVDs are usually subtitled using traditional characters, influenced by media from Taiwan as well as by the two countries sharing the same DVD region , 3. With most having immigrated to
1395-605: The Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited ; and the Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited . Notes are also issued by the HKMA itself. In most countries of the world the issue of banknotes is handled exclusively by a single central bank or government. The arrangements in Hong Kong are unusual but not unique; a comparable system is used in the United Kingdom , where seven banks issue banknotes. As of today,
1488-807: The East of Suez . In 1969 Chartered Bank merged with Standard Bank, which did business throughout Africa. The merged enterprise was incorporated in London under the name Standard Chartered . The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China—a bank incorporated in London , was founded in 1853 in London by James Wilson ; following the grant of a Royal Charter from Queen Victoria . In 1858, it opened its first branches in Calcutta , Bombay and Shanghai . The bank's operations were expanded to Hong Kong and Singapore in 1859, followed by Karachi in 1863. Chartered Bank
1581-684: The Hong Kong Mint was closed down with a loss of $ 440,000. The machinery at the Hong Kong mint was sold first to Jardine Matheson and, in turn, to the Japanese and used to make the first Yen coins in 1870. In the 1860s, banknotes of the new British colonial banks, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China , denominated in dollars, also began to circulate in both Hong Kong and
1674-612: The Hong Kong Monetary Authority on behalf of the Government of Hong Kong . Banknotes circulated by the three different note issuers, 2023 The issue of Hong Kong dollar notes is governed today by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the governmental currency board of Hong Kong. Under licence from the HKMA, three commercial banks issue their own banknotes for general circulation in the region. They are Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited ;
1767-473: The Japanese occupation, an emergency issue of 1 dollar notes was made consisting of overprinted Bank of China 5 yuan notes. In 1945, paper money production resumed essentially unaltered from before the war, with the government issuing 1 cent , 5 cents , 10 cents , and 1-dollar notes , and the three banks issuing 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500-dollar notes. 1-dollar notes were replaced by coins in 1960, with only
1860-531: The Kensiu language . Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China (informally The Chartered Bank ) was a bank incorporated in London in 1853 by Scotsman James Wilson , under a Royal Charter from Queen Victoria . Though lacking a truly strong domestic network in Britain, it was influential in the development of British colonial trade throughout
1953-633: The People's Bank of China , China's central bank (PBOC), intervened in the effort of squeezing out Renminbi short speculations by tightening liquidity at Hong Kong commercial banks. The PBOC's move at the offshore market, coupled with another plunge in Chinese stocks, has led to investors’ fears that the Hong Kong Dollar may be de-pegged from the US Dollar in the foreseeable future. In response to
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#17327836524732046-967: The Philippines as part of the Spanish East Indies in the Spanish colonial empire through the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade with the coins minted in the Spanish Americas in Mexico or Peru or Bolivia . By 1858, the British government gave up all attempts to influence the currency situation in Canada, and by the 1860s, it came to the same realisation in Hong Kong: that there was no point in trying to displace an already existing currency system. In 1863,
2139-647: The Royal Mint in London began issuing special subsidiary coinage for use in Hong Kong within the dollar system, though other national currencies circulated unofficially for years afterwards. In 1866, a local mint was established at Cleveland Street in Causeway Bay on Hong Kong Island for the purpose of minting Hong Kong silver dollar and half dollar coins of the same value and similar likeness to their Spanish/Mexican counterparts. The Chinese did not however receive these new Hong Kong dollars well, and in 1868,
2232-640: The Shanghainese -language character U+20C8E 𠲎 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-20C8E —a composition of 伐 with the ⼝ 'MOUTH' radical—used instead of the Standard Chinese 嗎 ; 吗 . Typefaces often use the initialism TC to signify the use of traditional Chinese characters, as well as SC for simplified Chinese characters . In addition, the Noto, Italy family of typefaces, for example, also provides separate fonts for
2325-652: The Straits Settlements . In 1906, the Straits Settlements issued their own silver dollar coin and attached it to a gold sterling exchange standard at a fixed value of 2 shillings and 4 pence. This was the point of departure as between the Hong Kong unit and the Straits unit. In British Weihaiwei , the Hong Kong dollar circulated jointly with the Chinese yuan from 1914 to 1930, when Weihaiwei
2418-766: The 1-cent note issued by the government after 1965. In 1975, the HK$ 5 notes were replaced by coins, whilst HK$ 1,000 notes were introduced in 1977. The Mercantile Bank was absorbed by the HSBC in 1978 and ceased issuing notes. In 1985, HK$ 20 notes were introduced, whilst, in 1993, HK$ 10 coins were introduced and the banks stopped issuing HK$ 10 notes. In 1994 the HKMA gave authority to the Bank of China to issue notes. On New Year's Day (1 January) 1993 at stroke of midnight HKT , HSBC , Bank of China and Standard Chartered officially introduced all new banknote designs. HSBC , Bank of China and Standard Chartered officially introduced
2511-451: The 1960s, the UK found it difficult to keep the value of sterling as it was, with its role as official reserve currency even within the sterling area . In 1964, sterling was 83% of the official reserves of overseas sterling area countries, but this share had decreased to 75% in 1966 and to 65% in 1967. When sterling was devalued by the UK in 1967, and Hong Kong dollar's peg to the pound resulted in
2604-607: The Bauhinia the requested "politically neutral design" and did a secret "scissors and paste job". In early 1997, to commemorate Hong Kong's transfer of sovereignty from Britain to the PRC , the government issued a new commemorative coin set which depicted Chinese cultural themes and Hong Kong's landmarks and 19 and 97, marking the year 1997, on each side of the designs. As of today, coins in denominations of HK$ 10 , HK$ 5 , HK$ 2 , HK$ 1 , 50 cents , 20 cents and 10 cents are issued by
2697-516: The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, were all declared legal tender. The government took over production of 1 dollar notes. In 1941, the government introduced notes for 1 cent , 5 cents and 10 cents due to the difficulty of transporting coins to Hong Kong caused by the Second World War (a ship carrying 1941 1-cent coins was sunk, making this unissued coin very rare). Just before
2790-478: The Financial Secretary of Hong Kong Government John Bremridge announced to peg the Hong Kong dollar with the U.S. dollar at a rate of HK$ 7.8 to US$ 1 in a currency board fashion on 17 October 1983. When recalling the choice of rate, Tony Latter notes that a rate of HK$ 7.25 to HK$ 7.50 was considered a reasonable range in macroeconomic terms, given the rate against the U.S. dollar around HK$ 6.60 before
2883-418: The HKMA. In practice, in the unique linked exchange rate system, the exchange rate of HK$ 7.80 = US$ 1, is strictly controlled by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in the foreign exchange market by controlling supply and demand of Hong Kong dollars in order to influence the exchange rate being fixed. By this arrangement the HKMA guarantees to exchange United States dollar into Hong Kong dollars and vice versa, at
Hong Kong dollar - Misplaced Pages Continue
2976-424: The Hong Kong dollar is "Honkie". In 1863, 1-mil ( 1 ⁄ 10 -cent), 1-cent and 10-cent coins were introduced, followed in 1866 by 5-cent and 20-cents , half-dollar and 1-dollar . The 1-mil and 1-cent were struck in bronze, with the 1 mil a holed coin. The remaining coins were struck in silver. Production of the 1-mil ended in 1866, whilst that of the half-dollar and 1-dollar ceased in 1868, with only
3069-638: The Hong Kong's financial and economic links are increasingly dominated by mainland China , and previous concerns about the monetary openness of China's capital account are slowly receding, if China continues to open its capital account, the peg could shift from United States dollar to renminbi. However, in January 2016, the volatility in the Renminbi and China's financial markets expanded to Hong Kong's markets and its currency. Renminbi offshore overnight borrowing rate, CNH HIBOR, soared to 66.8% on 12 January after
3162-674: The Olympic Games held in Beijing in 2008 and 2022. Since 1983, the linked exchange rate system is a unique type of exchange rate regime used for the Hong Kong dollar to be pegged with the United States dollar at a fixed rate of HK$ 7.80 = US$ 1. In this unique linked exchange rate system, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) authorises the three note-issuing commercial banks to freely issue new banknotes provided that they deposit an equivalent value of United States dollars with
3255-555: The People's Republic of China, traditional Chinese characters are standardised according to the Table of Comparison between Standard, Traditional and Variant Chinese Characters . Dictionaries published in mainland China generally show both simplified and their traditional counterparts. There are differences between the accepted traditional forms in mainland China and elsewhere, for example the accepted traditional form of 产 in mainland China
3348-494: The Queen's portrait are still legal tender and can be seen, but these are slowly being phased out. However, most still remain in legal tender and are in circulation. Because the redesign was highly sensitive with regard to political and economic reasons, the designing process of the new coins could not be entrusted to an artist but was undertaken by Joseph Yam , Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority , himself who found in
3441-690: The Renminbi, instead of the United States dollar. Studies shows that, if the Hong Kong dollar were to be re-pegged to the Renminbi, it would need over 2 trillion Renminbi worth of assets to replace the HKMA's US$ 340 billion in foreign reserves as of 2015, which exceeds the amount of existing Renminbi assets in Hong Kong's offshore market. Moreover, according to figures from the HKMA as of the end of 2014, Renminbi deposits and certificates of deposits stood at 1.158 trillion Renminbi, while outstanding Renminbi bonds amounted to 381 billion and Renminbi-denominated loans stood at 188 billion. Other studies shows, while
3534-618: The Second World War, the Hong Kong dollar was re-pegged to sterling at a fixed rate identical to the pre-war level. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom made efforts in maintaining the sterling area with countries of the British Commonwealth as well as its colonies. It imposed exchange controls on non-sterling area countries, barring them from freely converting British pounds into US dollars, but no such restriction
3627-608: The Spanish or Mexican 8 reales coins were set at a legal tender value of 4 shillings, 2 pence sterling (50 pre-decimal pence). But just as in the case of the British North American colonies, the attempts to introduce the sterling coinage failed to overcome the strong local adherence to the silver Spanish dollar system that had been in wide circulation across the Far East , emanating for centuries from Manila in
3720-683: The Treasury for payment of government dues and taxes , although they were accepted for use by merchants. 25 dollar notes did not survive beyond the end of the 19th century, whilst the 1-dollar notes (only produced by the HSBC ) were issued until 1935. Under the Currency Ordinance of 1935, banknotes in denominations of 5 dollars and above issued by the three authorised local banks, the Mercantile Bank of India, London and China ,
3813-482: The U.S. dollar and extended the exchange controls also to the Sterling Area countries, which put an effective end to the Sterling Area in 1972. In the same year, the Hong Kong dollar was pegged to the U.S. dollar at a rate of HK$ 5.65 = US$ 1, revised to HK$ 5.085 = US$ 1 in 1973. From 1974 to 1983, the Hong Kong dollar was not anchored to another currency, changing the monetary regime from a currency board system to
Hong Kong dollar - Misplaced Pages Continue
3906-709: The U.S. dollar with a return to the former currency board system. The proposal received support from two government officials within the Monetary Affairs Branch of the Hong Kong Government, namely the Deputy Secretary for Monetary Affairs Tony Latter and the Government Economist Alan McLean as a practical way to restore confidence in the Hong Kong dollar. After discussions between London and Hong Kong,
3999-457: The US dollars by the Hong Kong government officials, London agreed to offer exchange guarantees to protect Hong Kong against potential devaluation of sterling in the future, which was the first to receive such guarantees among the sterling area countries. After the US's cessation of the convertibility between gold and the U.S. dollar in October 1971, Britain abandoned the fixed exchange rate with
4092-469: The United States during the second half of the 19th century, Chinese Americans have long used traditional characters. When not providing both, US public notices and signs in Chinese are generally written in traditional characters, more often than in simplified characters. In the past, traditional Chinese was most often encoded on computers using the Big5 standard, which favored traditional characters. However,
4185-624: The bank acquired Eastern Bank , giving Chartered a network of branches in Aden , Bahrain , Lebanon , Qatar and the UAE . Chartered also bought the Ionian Bank 's Cyprus Branches. In 1964, the government of Indonesia nationalised Chartered Bank's branch as a part of Konfrontasi . The branch was later merged into Bank Umum Negara, a state-owned bank. Bank Umum Negara then evolved into present-day Bank Mandiri . In 1969, Chartered Bank merged with
4278-451: The bank's business dealt specifically with large volume discounting and re-discounting of opium and cotton bills. Although there was a gradual rise in opium cultivation in China , the imports of opium still increased from 50,087 picul in 1863 to 82,61 picul by 1888. Transactions in the opium trade generated substantial profits for Chartered Bank. Later, the Chartered Bank also became one of
4371-590: The banknote circulation arrangement to four different note issuers. In 1845, the first private bank, the Oriental Bank , was founded. However, banknotes were not produced until the 1860s, when the Oriental Bank, the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation began issuing notes. Denominations issued in the 1860s and 1870s included 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 500 dollars. These notes were not accepted by
4464-401: The crisis and the rate around HK$ 8.30 to HK$ 8.80 when the government's intention to change monetary regime was revealed in early October. In political terms, the government did not want to set the rate too weak so as to warrant international allegations of currency manipulation for competitive advantages, or too strong a rate that would result in high interest rates and the eventual abandonment of
4557-490: The crisis. The solution in its current form was favored by government officials for reasons beyond monetary considerations. Financially, the currency peg was designed not to require the Bank of England to lend its reserves to maintain Hong Kong's currency peg. Politically, the currency board system well demonstrated the autonomy London has given to Hong Kong in economic policymaking amidst British negotiation with China to grant Hong Kong's higher autonomy after 1997. As envisioned,
4650-516: The currency board monetary regime continues to function with the same pegged rate beyond the handover of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China in 1997. The Basic Law of Hong Kong and the Sino-British Joint Declaration provides that Hong Kong retains full autonomy with respect to currency issuance. Currency in Hong Kong is issued by the government and three local banks ( HSBC , Bank of China and Standard Chartered ) under
4743-901: The early 1900s, the bank opened offices in New York and Hamburg . When it established its New York branch in 1912, Chartered Bank became the first foreign bank to be issued a licence to operate in New York. In 1923 the Great Kanto earthquake destroyed Chartered Bank's office in Yokohama , Japan , and killed a number of its staff. In 1927 the bank acquired P&O Bank , which had offices in Colombo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Guangzhou (Canton). P&O Bank also owned Allahabad Bank . The operations of P&O Bank were merged with Chartered Bank. But Allahabad Bank continued to be run as
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#17327836524734836-458: The extent that there was now a dearth of Spanish/Mexican dollars and the authorities in both Hong Kong and the Straits Settlements were putting pressure on the authorities in London to take measures to have a regular supply of silver dollar coins. London eventually acquiesced and legislation was enacted in attempts to regulate the coinage. New British trade dollars were coined at the mints in Calcutta and Bombay for use in both Hong Kong and
4929-469: The greater influence remains the US Federal Reserve, as whenever it raises interest rates and sends the US Dollar higher, the linked Hong Kong Dollar would become more expensive than un-pegged currencies including the Chinese Yuan. (for issue and redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness) Traditional Chinese characters Traditional Chinese characters are a standard set of Chinese character forms used to write Chinese languages . In Taiwan ,
5022-618: The half-dollar (now with the denomination given as 50 cents) resuming production in 1890. Production of all silver coins was suspended in 1905, only briefly resumed in 1932 and 1933 for the production of 5-cent coins. In 1934, the last 1-cent coins were issued, but the last minting was 1941. These were not issued because the Japanese sank a ship carrying 1-cent coins bound for Hong Kong in the Second World War . The following year (1935), cupro-nickel 5 and 10 cents were introduced, replaced by nickel in 1937 and nickel-brass between 1948 and 1949. Copper-nickel 50 cents were issued in 1951 and first bore
5115-405: The house, together with the land on the other side of the river Mole, was laid out as a sports ground, firstly for the Distillers Company , and then for the construction group Trollope & Colls . Later the estate became the sports ground of the Standard Chartered Bank. A disastrous fire gutted the house in 1983. The ground was sold for housing development and their sports club closed. In 1957,
5208-423: The introduction of one-dollar notes by the government and the government acknowledged the Hong Kong dollar as the local monetary unit. It was not until 1937 that the legal tender of Hong Kong was finally unified. In 1939, the Hong Kong dollar was put on a fixed peg of HK$ 16 = £1 ($ 1 = 1 s 3 d ). The discussion about switching from the silver standard to the gold standard began as early as 1930. A commission report
5301-493: The inverse is equally true as well. In digital media, many cultural phenomena imported from Hong Kong and Taiwan into mainland China, such as music videos, karaoke videos, subtitled movies, and subtitled dramas, use traditional Chinese characters. In Hong Kong and Macau , traditional characters were retained during the colonial period, while the mainland adopted simplified characters. Simplified characters are contemporaneously used to accommodate immigrants and tourists, often from
5394-421: The long collusion between officials in Hong Kong, bankers and local business communities. The People's Republic of China (PRC) established by the Chinese Communist Party in 1949 was in dire need for foreign currency, especially after the Korean War (1950–1953) and the Sino-Soviet split in the early 1960s for international trade with countries of non-Soviet bloc. The British sterling obtained through Hong Kong
5487-428: The lower guaranteed limit, a new upper guaranteed limit was set for the Hong Kong dollar at HK$ 7.75 to the US dollar. The lower limit has been lowered from 7.80 to 7.85 (by 100 pips per week from 23 May to 20 June 2005). The Hong Kong Monetary Authority indicated this move is to narrow the gap between the interest rates in Hong Kong and those of the United States. A further aim of allowing the Hong Kong dollar to trade in
5580-725: The mainland. The increasing use of simplified characters has led to concern among residents regarding protecting what they see as their local heritage. Taiwan has never adopted simplified characters. The use of simplified characters in government documents and educational settings is discouraged by the government of Taiwan. Nevertheless, with sufficient context simplified characters are likely to be successfully read by those used to traditional characters, especially given some previous exposure. Many simplified characters were previously variants that had long been in some use, with systematic stroke simplifications used in folk handwriting since antiquity. Traditional characters were recognized as
5673-682: The majority of Chinese text in mainland China are simplified characters , there is no legislation prohibiting the use of traditional Chinese characters, and often traditional Chinese characters remain in use for stylistic and commercial purposes, such as in shopfront displays and advertising. Traditional Chinese characters remain ubiquitous on buildings that predate the promulgation of the current simplification scheme, such as former government buildings, religious buildings, educational institutions, and historical monuments. Traditional Chinese characters continue to be used for ceremonial, cultural, scholarly/academic research, and artistic/decorative purposes. In
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#17327836524735766-399: The market speculation, Hong Kong Monetary Authority said on 27 January that the regulator will protect Hong Kong dollar's linked exchange rate regime. As Hong Kong's financial markets are highly impacted by mainland China, the Renminbi exchange rate as well as China's equity market remain in a state of high volatility and continues to weigh on Hong Kong markets and the Hong Kong dollar. However,
5859-916: The merging of previously distinct character forms. Many Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between these character sets. Traditional characters are known by different names throughout the Chinese-speaking world. The government of Taiwan officially refers to traditional Chinese characters as 正體字 ; 正体字 ; zhèngtǐzì ; 'orthodox characters'. This term is also used outside Taiwan to distinguish standard characters, including both simplified, and traditional, from other variants and idiomatic characters . Users of traditional characters elsewhere, as well as those using simplified characters, call traditional characters 繁體字 ; 繁体字 ; fántǐzì ; 'complex characters', 老字 ; lǎozì ; 'old characters', or 全體字 ; 全体字 ; quántǐzì ; 'full characters' to distinguish them from simplified characters. Some argue that since traditional characters are often
5952-421: The name "fifty cents" in both Chinese and English, but these were changed to nickel-brass in 1977. In 1960, cupro-nickel 1-dollar coins were introduced, these were then reduced in size in 1978. They were followed in 1975 by nickel-brass 20 cents and cupro-nickel 2-dollar coin (both scallop shaped) and, in 1976, by decagonal , cupro-nickel 5-dollar coin , changed to a round thicker shape in 1980. The 5-cent coin
6045-427: The note printing plant at Tai Po from the De La Rue Group of the UK on behalf of the Government. These notes were printed in paper in 2002 and in polymer since 2007. All older HK$ 10 banknotes, although rare and being phased out, remain legal tender. The latest series of banknotes was issued starting in 2018. Commemorative banknotes have also been issued celebrating the note-issuing banks' anniversaries as well as
6138-556: The official script in Singapore until 1969, when the government officially adopted Simplified characters. Traditional characters still are widely used in contexts such as in baby and corporation names, advertisements, decorations, official documents and in newspapers. The Chinese Filipino community continues to be one of the most conservative in Southeast Asia regarding simplification. Although major public universities teach in simplified characters, many well-established Chinese schools still use traditional characters. Publications such as
6231-401: The only legal tender on 1 June 1943. The issue of local currency was resumed by the Hong Kong government and the authorised local banks after liberation, with the pre-war rate of HK$ 16 = £1 being restored. The yen was exchanged at a rate of ¥100 = HK$ 1. On 6 September 1945, all military yen notes used in Japanese colonies were declared void by the Japanese Ministry of Finance . After the end of
6324-538: The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869; and completion of Indo-European telegraph line from London to Calcutta , and its extension to China in 1871; placed most British banks (including Chartered Bank) to expand and develop its business. The bank's expansion continued to the 1900s, leading it to open branches across Asia. The bank's traditional business was in cotton from Bombay , indigo and tea from Calcutta , rice from Burma , sugar from Java , tobacco from Sumatra , hemp from Manila and silk from Yokohama . In
6417-700: The original standard forms, they should not be called 'complex'. Conversely, there is a common objection to the description of traditional characters as 'standard', due to them not being used by a large population of Chinese speakers. Additionally, as the process of Chinese character creation often made many characters more elaborate over time, there is sometimes a hesitation to characterize them as 'traditional'. Some people refer to traditional characters as 'proper characters' ( 正字 ; zhèngzì or 正寫 ; zhèngxiě ) and to simplified characters as 簡筆字 ; 简笔字 ; jiǎnbǐzì ; 'simplified-stroke characters' or 減筆字 ; 减笔字 ; jiǎnbǐzì ; 'reduced-stroke characters', as
6510-512: The position of the Deputy Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) , contended that the Financial Secretary together with the HKMA in the Hong Kong SAR Government were responsible for that. He acknowledged the heavy and direct influence of the Federal Reserve of the United States on Hong Kong's monetary policy under the currency peg, but argued that "It was Hong Kong's choice, and we do not require any permission from US to continue or discontinue it". As of 18 May 2005, in addition to
6603-729: The predominant forms. Simplified characters as codified by the People's Republic of China are predominantly used in mainland China , Malaysia, and Singapore. "Traditional" as such is a retronym applied to non-simplified character sets in the wake of widespread use of simplified characters. Traditional characters are commonly used in Taiwan , Hong Kong , and Macau , as well as in most overseas Chinese communities outside of Southeast Asia. As for non-Chinese languages written using Chinese characters, Japanese kanji include many simplified characters known as shinjitai standardized after World War II, sometimes distinct from their simplified Chinese counterparts . Korean hanja , still used to
6696-598: The principal foreign banknote-issuing institutions in Shanghai. In 1859, the bank opened a branch in Hong Kong and an agency in Singapore . In 1861, the Singapore agency was upgraded to a branch. In 1862, the bank was authorised to issue bank notes in Hong Kong ; a privilege it continues to exercise (as Standard Chartered ) to this day. Over the following decades, it printed bank notes in China and Malaya . With
6789-468: The public had greater degree of confidence in the notes issued by those long-established banks than that by the government. During the Japanese occupation , the Japanese military yen were the only means of everyday exchange in Hong Kong. When the yen was first introduced on 26 December 1941, the exchange rate was ¥1 yen = HK$ 2. However, in August 1942, the rate was changed to HK$ 4 to ¥1 yen. The yen became
6882-401: The rate of 7.80. When the market rate is below 7.80, the banks will convert United States dollar for Hong Kong dollars from the HKMA, Hong Kong dollars supply will increase, and the market rate will climb back to 7.80. The same mechanism also works when the market rate is above 7.80, and the banks will convert Hong Kong dollars for United States dollars. By this arrangement, the Hong Kong dollar
6975-413: The rate. HK$ 7.8 was finally selected, as the government hoped to demonstrate that the situation has been properly stabilized and it was felt that the rate below HK$ 8.0 can achieve this purpose psychologically. John Bremridge was once quoted saying that the rate was somewhat "a number off the air", but the most important thing was the restoration of public confidence in Hong Kong dollar with the peg amidst
7068-413: The same denomination of banknote. However, the HK$ 10 banknote and all coins are issued by the Government of Hong Kong . As of April 2019, the Hong Kong dollar was the ninth- most traded currency in the world . Hong Kong uses a linked exchange rate system , trading since May 2005 in the range US$ 1:HK$ 7.75–7.85. Apart from its use in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong dollar is also used in neighbouring Macau . It
7161-521: The set of traditional characters is regulated by the Ministry of Education and standardized in the Standard Form of National Characters . These forms were predominant in written Chinese until the middle of the 20th century, when various countries that use Chinese characters began standardizing simplified sets of characters, often with characters that existed before as well-known variants of
7254-470: The supervision of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority , which was a semi-independent public body established in the early 1990s to regulate banks and manage exchange funds and serves until now as the territory's de facto " central bank ". Banknotes are printed by Hong Kong Note Printing Limited . A bank can issue a Hong Kong dollar only if it has the equivalent exchange in US dollars on deposit. The currency board system ensures that Hong Kong's entire monetary base
7347-489: The talks, on 24 September 1983, the Hong Kong dollar was devalued by 15% over 2 days to a historical low at HK$ 9.6 to US$ 1. Public panic set in and there were runs on foodstuff on this Black Saturday (1983) . Amidst the monetary crisis, John Greenwood, an economist who was later dubbed the "architect of the Linked Exchange Rate System " in Hong Kong, advocated the proposal to peg the Hong Kong dollar to
7440-470: The three commercial banks, HSBC , Bank of China and Standard Chartered issue their own designs of banknotes in denominations of HK$ 20 , HK$ 50 , HK$ 100 , HK$ 500 and HK$ 1,000 , with all designs being similar to the other in the same denomination of banknote. While only the HK$ 10 banknote is issued solely by Hong Kong Monetary Authority on behalf of the Government of Hong Kong , which in total makes up
7533-581: The traditional character set used in Taiwan ( TC ) and the set used in Hong Kong ( HK ). Most Chinese-language webpages now use Unicode for their text. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommends the use of the language tag zh-Hant to specify webpage content written with traditional characters. In the Japanese writing system , kyujitai are traditional forms, which were simplified to create shinjitai for standardized Japanese use following World War II. Kyūjitai are mostly congruent with
7626-985: The traditional characters in Chinese, save for minor stylistic variation. Characters that are not included in the jōyō kanji list are generally recommended to be printed in their traditional forms, with a few exceptions. Additionally, there are kokuji , which are kanji wholly created in Japan, rather than originally being borrowed from China. In the Korean writing system , hanja —replaced almost entirely by hangul in South Korea and totally replaced in North Korea —are mostly identical with their traditional counterparts, save minor stylistic variations. As with Japanese, there are autochthonous hanja, known as gukja . Traditional Chinese characters are also used by non-Chinese ethnic groups. The Maniq people living in Thailand and Malaysia use Chinese characters to write
7719-518: The ubiquitous Unicode standard gives equal weight to simplified and traditional Chinese characters, and has become by far the most popular encoding for Chinese-language text. There are various input method editors (IMEs) available for the input of Chinese characters . Many characters, often dialectical variants, are encoded in Unicode but cannot be inputted using certain IMEs, with one example being
7812-463: The wider region. In 1873, the international silver crisis resulted in a devaluation of silver against gold-based currencies. Since the silver dollars in the US and Canada were attached to a gold exchange standard, this meant that the silver dollars circulating along the China coast dropped in value as compared to the U.S. dollar and the Canadian dollar . By 1895, the circumstances had changed to
7905-587: The words for simplified and reduced are homophonous in Standard Chinese , both pronounced as jiǎn . The modern shapes of traditional Chinese characters first appeared with the emergence of the clerical script during the Han dynasty c. 200 BCE , with the sets of forms and norms more or less stable since the Southern and Northern dynasties period c. the 5th century . Although
7998-399: Was able to finance 28% and 46% of PRC's total import from 1963 to 1967 and from 1970 to 1971 respectively. Of the British sterling obtained by PRC through Hong Kong during 1953 and 1971, about 40–50% was supplied by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), the de facto "central bank" in Hong Kong, which accounted for 10% of annual foreign currency needed by PRC in the period. In
8091-401: Was exponentially expanded from £140–£160 million in the late 1950s to £363 million in October 1967, equivalent to 10% of the UK's total sterling liabilities to the overseas sterling area before the devaluation. Subsequently, Hong Kong and London engaged in talks about compensation and protection against further losses. Considering the potential diversification of official reserves from sterling to
8184-596: Was keen to capitalise on the huge expansion of trade between India and China and other British possessions in Asia; and the handsome profits that could be made from financing the movement of goods from Europe to Far East . It competed with the other great British banks of that time— Oriental Bank Corporation , the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank and Mercantile Bank of India, London and China . The Shanghai branch of Chartered Bank began operation in August 1858. Initially,
8277-473: Was last issued in 1979, but last struck in 1988. In 1994, a bimetallic 10-dollar coin was introduced. Starting on New Year's Day (1 January) 1993 at stroke of midnight HKT , prior to the establishment of the HKSAR, coins with Queen Elizabeth II 's portrait were gradually withdrawn from circulation. Most of the notes and coins in circulations feature Hong Kong's Bauhinia flower or other symbols. Coins with
8370-646: Was placed on sterling area countries. As a colony of the British Empire, Hong Kong was obliged to observe the sterling area regulations. Nevertheless, its unique geo-economic position afforded Hong Kong the ability to defy exchange controls by operating a dual system with the sterling area and a free exchange market principally with the US dollar, which was technically illegal from 1949 to 1967. Hong Kong economy specialist Leo Goodstadt argues that ministers and officials in London were bound to tolerate Hong Kong's situation, given Hong Kong's extensive trade with PRC, and
8463-482: Was released in May 1931. It concluded that it was important for Hong Kong to facilitate free flow of capital with China and the same monetary standard was thus preferred. The report also recommended the Hong Kong Government only to take over the burden of note issuance when the banks failed to do so. Actually, the Hong Kong Government was not willing to take up the logistics of note issuance, and some officials even thought that
8556-480: Was returned to the Republic of China . By 1935, only Hong Kong and China remained on the silver standard. In that year, Hong Kong, shortly after China, abandoned silver and introduced a crawling peg to sterling of £1 = HK$ 15.36 to HK$ 16.45. It was from this point in time that the concept of a Hong Kong dollar as a distinct unit of currency came into existence. The One-Dollar Currency Note Ordinance of that year led to
8649-450: Was the chief denomination until the introduction of the yuan in the late 19th century. The dollar is divided into 100 cents, with the character 仙 ( Cantonese Yale : sīn , a transliteration of “cent”) used on coins and in informal Cantonese. However, 仙 is now only used in the stock market, as now it no longer has a note or coin form due to its small value, and is no longer used in regular cash transactions. The amount of 10 cents
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