IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/drm/wpaper/2025-16.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Effects of Monetary Policy on Cross-Border Banking between China and Hong Kong

Author

Listed:
  • Lorenzo Garlanda-Longueville

Abstract

Hong Kong has been China’s largest net banking creditor from 2009 to 2023, with an important decline starting in 2015. This paper presents an explanation for this decline and assess the impact of Chinese and US monetary policy on international positions between China and Hong Kong during this period, using a local projection approach. Our results indicate that a large part of the decline in the level of outstanding amounts can be attributed to the People’s Bank of China’s (PBoC) accommodative monetary policy and its direct consequence: the narrowing of the spread between Chinese interest rates and those of advanced countries. We explain this development by yield-seeking behavior on the part of international banks resident in Hong Kong. In line with recent literature on the transmission of Chinese monetary policy, we show that the PBoC now operates fully within a market interest rate logic and no longer through purely quantitative instruments (quotas, credit controls and reserve requirements). Finally, our results indicate that the effect of Chinese monetary policy on Hong Kong’s international banking assets is stronger than that of Fed policy, despite the currency peg to the dollar.

Suggested Citation

  • Lorenzo Garlanda-Longueville, 2025. "The Effects of Monetary Policy on Cross-Border Banking between China and Hong Kong," EconomiX Working Papers 2025-16, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    • Handle: RePEc:drm:wpaper:2025-16
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://economix.fr/pdf/dt/2025/WP_EcoX_2025-16.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sun, Rongrong, 2013. "Does monetary policy matter in China? A narrative approach," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 56-74.
    2. Bu, Chunya & Rogers, John & Wu, Wenbin, 2021. "A unified measure of Fed monetary policy shocks," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 331-349.
    3. Temesvary, Judit & Ongena, Steven & Owen, Ann L., 2018. "A global lending channel unplugged? Does U.S. monetary policy affect cross-border and affiliate lending by global U.S. banks?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 50-69.
    4. Avdjiev, Stefan & Hale, Galina, 2019. "U.S. monetary policy and fluctuations of international bank lending," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 251-268.
    5. Jing Cynthia Wu & Fan Dora Xia, 2016. "Measuring the Macroeconomic Impact of Monetary Policy at the Zero Lower Bound," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 48(2-3), pages 253-291, March.
    6. Cerutti, Eugenio & Casanova, Catherine & Pradhan, Swapan-Kumar, 2023. "Banking across borders: Are Chinese banks different?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    7. Albrizio, Silvia & Choi, Sangyup & Furceri, Davide & Yoon, Chansik, 2020. "International bank lending channel of monetary policy," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    8. Morais, Bernardo & Peydró, José-Luis & Roldán Peña, Jessica & Ruiz Ortega, Claudia, 2019. "The International Bank Lending Channel of Monetary Policy Rates and QE: Credit Supply, Reach-for-Yield, and Real Effects," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 74(1), pages 55-90.
    9. Paul Luk & Michael Cheng & Philip Ng & Ken Wong, 2020. "Economic policy uncertainty spillovers in small open economies: The case of Hong Kong," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 21-46, February.
    10. Kaiji Chen & Jue Ren & Tao Zha, 2018. "The Nexus of Monetary Policy and Shadow Banking in China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(12), pages 3891-3936, December.
    11. Ricardo Correa & Teodora Paligorova & Horacio Sapriza & Andrei Zlate, 2022. "Cross-Border Bank Flows and Monetary Policy," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 35(1), pages 438-481.
    12. Mikkel Plagborg‐Møller & Christian K. Wolf, 2021. "Local Projections and VARs Estimate the Same Impulse Responses," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 89(2), pages 955-980, March.
    13. Avdjiev, Stefan & Koch, Cathérine & McGuire, Patrick & von Peter, Goetz, 2018. "Transmission of monetary policy through global banks: Whose policy matters?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 67-82.
    14. Dharmapala, Dhammika & Hines Jr., James R., 2009. "Which countries become tax havens?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(9-10), pages 1058-1068, October.
    15. Vespignani, Joaquin L., 2015. "International transmission of monetary shocks to the Euro area: Evidence from the U.S., Japan and China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 131-141.
    16. John Beirne & Nuobu Renzhi & Ulrich Volz, 2023. "When the United States and the People’s Republic of China Sneeze: Monetary Policy Spillovers to Asian Economies," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 519-540, July.
    17. Eugenio Cerutti & Stijn Claessens & Lev Ratnovski, 2017. "Global liquidity and cross-border bank flows," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 32(89), pages 81-125.
    18. José Luis Montiel Olea & Mikkel Plagborg‐Møller, 2021. "Local Projection Inference Is Simpler and More Robust Than You Think," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 89(4), pages 1789-1823, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Albrizio, Silvia & Choi, Sangyup & Furceri, Davide & Yoon, Chansik, 2020. "International bank lending channel of monetary policy," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    2. Sangyup Choi & Davide Furceri & Chansik Yoon, 2021. "International Fiscal-Financial Spillovers:the Effect of Fiscal Shocks on Cross-Border Bank Lending," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 259-290, April.
    3. Buch, Claudia M. & Bussierè, Matthieu & Goldberg, Linda & Hills, Robert, 2019. "The international transmission of monetary policy," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 29-48.
    4. Elliott, David & Meisenzahl, Ralf R. & Peydró, José-Luis, 2024. "Nonbank lenders as global shock absorbers: Evidence from US monetary policy spillovers," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    5. Agénor, Pierre-Richard & Jackson, Timothy P. & Pereira da Silva, Luiz A., 2024. "Cross-border regulatory spillovers and macroprudential policy coordination," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    6. Lee, Seungyoon & Bowdler, Christopher, 2022. "International spillovers from US monetary policy: Evidence from Asian bank-level data," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    7. Avdjiev, Stefan & Koch, Cathérine & McGuire, Patrick & von Peter, Goetz, 2018. "Transmission of monetary policy through global banks: Whose policy matters?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 67-82.
    8. Youngjin Yun, 2022. "Cross‐border bank flows through foreign branches and the effect of a macroprudential policy," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(2), pages 83-104, May.
    9. Catão, Luís A.V. & te Kaat, Daniel Marcel, 2021. "Capital account liberalization and the composition of bank liabilities," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    10. Lu, Dong & Liu, Jialin & Zhou, Hang, 2022. "Global financial conditions, capital flows and the exchange rate regime in emerging market economies," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    11. Riccardo Degasperi & Fabrizio Venditti, 2024. "US monetary policy spillovers to the euro area," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 891, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    12. Luigi Bonatti & Andrea Fracasso & Roberto Tamborini, 2021. "Monetary and Fiscal Spillovers Across the Atlantic: The Role of Financial Markets," DEM Working Papers 2021/09, Department of Economics and Management.
    13. Temesvary, Judit & Wei, Andrew, 2024. "Domestic lending and the pandemic: How does banks’ exposure to COVID-19 abroad affect their lending in the United States?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    14. Lee, Seung Jung & Liu, Lucy Qian & Stebunovs, Viktors, 2022. "Risk-taking spillovers of U.S. monetary policy in the global market for U.S. dollar corporate loans," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    15. Ashima Goyal & Akhilesh K. Verma & Rajeswari Sengupta, 2022. "External shocks, cross-border flows and macroeconomic risks in emerging market economies," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(5), pages 2111-2148, May.
    16. Julian Di Giovanni & Galina Hale, 2022. "Stock Market Spillovers via the Global Production Network: Transmission of U.S. Monetary Policy," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(6), pages 3373-3421, December.
    17. Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde & Tomohide Mineyama & Dongho Song, 2024. "Are We Fragmented Yet? Measuring Geopolitical Fragmentation and Its Causal Effects," PIER Working Paper Archive 24-015, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    18. Stefan Avdjiev & José María Serena Garralda, 2020. "Regulatory capital, market capital and risk taking in international bank lending," BIS Working Papers 912, Bank for International Settlements.
    19. Filardo, Andrew J. & Siklos, Pierre L., 2020. "The cross-border credit channel and lending standards surveys," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    20. Sapriza, Horacio & Temesvary, Judit, 2024. "Economic activity and the bank credit channel," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    International Banking; Hong Kong; China; Monetary Policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • F34 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Lending and Debt Problems

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:drm:wpaper:2025-16. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Valerie Mignon The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask Valerie Mignon to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/modemfr.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.