Chen Maobo: Hong Kong's new stock fundraising amount has exceeded 60 billion, ranking first in the world for now.

On May 18, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po released a blog post mentioning that the Hong Kong stock market has been performing well this year. The Hang Seng Index closed at 23,345 points last Friday, with a cumulative increase of about 16%, outperforming other major markets. Trading volume has also increased, for example in April, the average daily turnover exceeded HK$270 billion, which is 1.4 times higher than the same period last year. The new stock market is also very active. On May 13, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange welcomed a highly anticipated new listing of a leading mainland new energy company, which is the largest new stock fundraising event globally this year. This has contributed to the total amount of new stock fundraising in Hong Kong exceeding HK$60 billion this year, which is more than 6 times higher than the same period last year, making it the largest fundraising activity globally. Regarding the Hong Kong dollar exchange rate, this month, the Hong Kong dollar exchange rate has been consistently strong, close to 7.75 against the US dollar, and has triggered the "strong-side convertibility undertaking" four times. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has intervened in the market by purchasing US dollars multiple times, injecting about HK$129 billion into the market. The influx of funds has increased liquidity, leading to a decrease in the interbank offered rate in Hong Kong. The one-month interbank offered rate, closely related to mortgage rates, has recently decreased from 4% to about 1.3%. However, the direction of fund flows and interest rate trends are subject to various internal and external factors, and the Hong Kong SAR Government and regulatory authorities will continue to closely monitor market changes to maintain financial stability. As of March this year, total bank deposits in Hong Kong amounted to nearly HK$18 trillion. This represents an increase of about 7% from last year, with an additional 3.5% increase so far this year. Looking at major global markets, Paul Chan Mo-po mentioned that funds are gradually moving towards leading innovative technology companies and industries with strategic value. Hong Kong is continuing to strengthen the dual-engine development of "finance + technology" by nurturing potential technology companies and promoting a more comprehensive development of the financial market. The goal is to synergize these two sectors, promote the development of Hong Kong as an international financial center and an international technology innovation center to new heights. Hong Kong's efforts in promoting technology research and development, supporting the growth of technology companies, and attracting key enterprises have been yielding significant results. Hong Kong aims to attract global research elites, technology leaders, as well as outstanding startups and entrepreneurs. Simultaneously, Hong Kong is creating more accessible and comprehensive channels for financing, allowing capital to better support technological innovation and add new impetus to the economy, creating more diverse and high-quality job opportunities for its citizens. This financing chain includes different stages: early-stage support from venture capital funds, sovereign wealth funds, and later-stage support from private equity funds, mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, and further fundraising through different channels. In addition to policy guidance, the Hong Kong SAR Government is leveraging the Hong Kong Investment Management Limited (HKIML) to provide patient capital through strategies such as "investing early, investing small, investing in hard technology" to support the development of Hong Kong's technology ecosystem, making positive contributions to accelerating the cultivation of new productive forces and high-quality development. HKIML has currently invested in over 100 projects and has successfully attracted more international patient capital by leveraging 1 dollar of investment to attract 4 dollars of market long-term investment, continuing to empower technological innovation and contribute to the economic development and competitiveness of Hong Kong. HKIML will host the first "International Patient Capital Forum" this Thursday with the theme "Pooling Capital, Building a Prosperous Future Together." The forum will bring together hundreds of representatives of patient capital from sovereign funds, pension funds, university funds, family offices, corporate venture capital, as well as startups and investment institutions from around the world to discuss and explore the collaborative platform, cooperation opportunities, and the driving force of investment, to promote better regional development.