Haitong Asset Management is gearing up to become an offshore renminbi centre with the recent launch of the first retail RMB fund product in the Shanghai area.

The Haitong Global RMB Fixed Income Fund is a product of the Chinese government's announcement in July that it was relaxing guidelines on renminbi accounts and its decision to depeg the currency from the US dollar. The lifting of restrictions was welcomed by investors and asset managers with interests in China, particularly with the country's huge potential for growth.

The new fund is designed to seek long-term capital growth through investments in RMB-denominated fixed or floating rate debt instruments issued outside Mainland China. Issuers may consist of banks, government agencies and corporations. The fund is also open to investing in other RMB deposits from outside the Mainland, such as term deposits, convertible bonds, commercial papers, and others.

"We will ride on this growing trend and seek to achieve investment returns through active management of the major risks associated with RMB income instruments," Lin Yong, the chief executive of Hai Tong (HK) Financial Holdings, said in a statement.

The minimum investment in the fund is RMB10,000 ($1,500). BOCI-Prudential Trustee is the trustee and Bank of China (Hong Kong) the custodian.