Paul Chan: Hong Kong will make good use of the advantages of being a financial center, take multiple measures to develop new economic growth points, and open up new opportunities.

On October 30, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu delivered a speech at the closing ceremony of the 2025 Financial Street Holdings Forum, stating that as an international financial center, Hong Kong will continue to accelerate economic growth by strengthening its stock market, deepening connectivity with mainland financial markets, enhancing cooperation with the Greater Bay Area carbon market, and leveraging its position as the largest offshore Renminbi business center to explore new opportunities. John Lee Ka-chiu mentioned that in the latest Global Financial Centres Index ranking, Hong Kong continues to maintain its position as the third globally and the first in Asia. The difference in scores between Hong Kong and the top two global financial centers is only two and one points, reaffirming Hong Kong's leading position as an international financial center. In last month's Policy Address, he proposed a series of measures to consolidate Hong Kong's status as an international financial center. Firstly, Hong Kong will continue to strengthen its stock market. The performance of the Hong Kong stock market has been outstanding this year, with the average daily turnover exceeding HK$250 billion in the first nine months of the year, doubling compared to the same period last year. In terms of funds raised through IPOs, the cumulative amount exceeded HK$180 billion by the end of September, more than doubled compared to the previous year, placing Hong Kong at the top globally. The Hong Kong SAR government will assist mainland technology companies to raise funds in Hong Kong through the newly established "Technology Enterprise Line," contributing to the financial sector. It will also encourage and support Chinese companies listed overseas to return to Hong Kong, making it their preferred listing destination. Secondly, Hong Kong will continue to deepen connectivity with mainland financial markets. As of September this year, the average daily turnover of northbound trading under the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect exceeded RMB 200 billion, while southbound trading reached over HK$120 billion, reflecting Hong Kong's crucial role in connecting mainland capital markets. Hong Kong will strive to include RMB counter trading in the "Stock Connect" as soon as possible, and include Real Estate Investment Trusts in the connectivity targets, encouraging more listed companies to add RMB stock trading counters. Thirdly, Hong Kong will strengthen its position as the largest offshore Renminbi business center globally. Currently, Hong Kong processes about 75% of global offshore Renminbi payment transactions. As of the end of August this year, the Renminbi deposit balance in Hong Kong was around RMB 1 trillion, providing liquidity support for global offshore Renminbi transactions and financial activities. To enhance Hong Kong's hub function in the offshore Renminbi market, Hong Kong will optimize the current Renminbi liquidity arrangements, allowing banks more space and flexibility to manage short-term Renminbi liquidity. Hong Kong will accelerate the establishment of an international gold trading market, expand gold storage capacity, and build a regional gold reserve hub. It will also establish a Hong Kong Gold Central Clearing System to provide efficient and trustworthy clearing services for international standard gold trading. Hong Kong has been actively playing a dual role as a platform for bringing in and going out, strengthening its advantages as an overseas platform and working with more mainland companies to create business opportunities. The SAR government has established a team dedicated to helping mainland companies expand overseas, bringing together professionals to provide comprehensive support for mainland companies using Hong Kong as a springboard to the world. Additionally, Hong Kong will explore optimizing tax reduction measures to attract more mainland companies to set up financial centers in Hong Kong, and promote the establishment of regional headquarters for banks, especially mainland banks in Hong Kong, to expand into emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East using Hong Kong's professional services. In terms of green and sustainable financial development, Hong Kong arranged for the issuance of approximately USD 43 billion in green and sustainable bonds last year, accounting for about 45% of the total in Asia and ranking first in the Asian market for seven consecutive years. HKEX will also strengthen cooperation with the Greater Bay Area carbon market, experiment with cross-border trading and settlement pathways, and jointly build an ecosystem for the carbon market within the region.