Chairman of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission Huang Tianyou: Actively exploring new products such as A-share index options and Chinese government bond futures.

On November 18, at the 10th anniversary forum of the mutual market access scheme, the chairman of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, Carlson Tong Ka-shing, stated in his keynote speech that the total market value of overseas companies listed in the Hong Kong stock market has reached HK$3.5 trillion, including multinational financial institutions and consumer brands. Recently, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has actively deepened connections with markets in Asia and the Belt and Road region. The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing has increased the number of recognized international exchanges to 19, which will promote diversification of listed companies and sources of funds. In addition, Hong Kong, as an offshore risk management center, has a mature and active derivatives market, and is currently making efforts to develop new products such as A-share index options and Chinese government bond futures. Tong pointed out that the Hong Kong market has implemented international game rules, and its regulations and regulatory systems are benchmarked against international standards, complete and transparent, which are familiar to overseas investors and greatly enhance their confidence. In a recent survey, Hong Kong was ranked among the top three financial centers globally, and is the number one in Asia. International investors from around the world actively participate, bringing diversified and continuous capital flow to the Hong Kong stock market. Institutional investors are the backbone of the market, providing strong support for market resilience. In the international regulatory organization, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has taken on multiple leadership roles, including chairing the Asia-Pacific Regional Committee, ensuring that Hong Kong has a say in regulatory formulation in major areas such as ESG and financial technology, and adopting leading regulatory standards. Furthermore, the Hong Kong stock market has characteristic sectors, such as many biotech companies and enterprises with different voting structures concentrated on the Hong Kong stock market, raising over HK$500 billion collectively in recent years. This has driven the proportion of market value of new economy enterprises listed on the Hong Kong stock market to nearly 40%. In the biotech field, Hong Kong is a leading fundraising center in Asia, with many research-focused companies gaining international capital favor through our platform, thus embarking on the path of commercialization. The listing system with different voting structures allows technology company teams to maintain their innovative genes, laying a foundation for sustained technological breakthroughs and promoting the upgrade and transformation of the economy. The third advantage is the diversification of investment products. For example, in recent years, driven by the promotion of ETF Connect, the Hong Kong ETF market has rapidly developed, with ETFs accounting for double the proportion of main board trading, and qualified ETFs seeing net inflows exceeding HK$60 billion. In addition, as an offshore risk management center, Hong Kong's derivatives market is mature and active, and is currently working to develop new products such as A-share index options and Chinese government bond futures. The expansion of RMB products is a necessary way for Hong Kong to build a hub for offshore RMB business, RMB fixed income, and foreign exchange. Since the launch of RMB stock trading counters last year, the operation has been smooth, and Hong Kong is actively advancing the inclusion of RMB stock trading counters in the Stock Connect scheme. Tong Ka-shing stated that looking ahead, Hong Kong must consolidate its market characteristics under the advantages of internationalization and diversification, form effective complementarity with the mainland market, and actively integrate into the development of the Greater Bay Area as a starting point to align with the national development strategy.