HK exchange chief: China's currency to float in five years

Charles Li, the CEO of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd (0388.HKG), Wednesday predicted that China will allow its currency to float within five years, Bloomberg reported. At present, China only allows its currency to rise and fall within a narrow range. Optimism that China will soon launch further reforms has pushed up the value of yuan forwards in recent days, with the currency nearing a 19-year high against the dollar yesterday. HSBC (HBC.NYSE, HSBA.LON, 0005.HKG) forecast this week that a third of China’s cross-border trade will be settled in yuan by 2015, up from 9% currently and less than 1% in 2009.