Yuan flirts with HK dollar parity

The yuan surpassed the value of the Hong Kong dollar in Hong Kong, and is close to reaching parity in mainland markets, the South China Morning Post reported. The exchange rate Thursday was HK$1 to 1.00202 yuan in late afternoon trade, while the yuan closed at 7.809 to the US dollar. Foreign exchange dealers expect the yuan to continue climbing and level with the Hong Kong dollar soon. Most Hong Kong lenders, including HSBC, Hang Seng Bank and some city branches of mainland banks, such as Bank of China (Hong Kong) and China Construction Bank (Asia), are already asking customers to pay more than HK$100 for every 100 yuan. On Thursday's board rates, customers could get around 99.7 yuan for HK$100 from HSBC compared with 100.06 yuan on December 28, while BOCHK was offering customers 99.70 yuan for every HK$100.