Chart of the Week: Hong Kong banks' mainland exposures to pick up in the next two years

That is following a period of steady decline starting in 2014.

Moody's noted that the increase in mainland exposures will come mainly from higher direct lending to mainland corporates as banks, in particular banks that are subsidiaries of mainland banks, play a bigger role supporting Chinese corporates’ overseas investments. Growth in banks' mainland exposures picked up in Q4 2016 as monetary conditions in China started to tighten.