EY: Measures such as optimizing the listing process will help enhance the international attractiveness of Hong Kong's capital market.

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced the "First Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2026-2030)" and the "Chief Executive's 2026 Policy Address." Lu Qiliang, Head of Capital Markets Services for EY Greater China, said he is pleased that the government has adopted EY's recommendations to enable more innovative enterprises to receive support from the government and patient capital, and to effectively use Hong Kong's capital market to achieve sustained growth. On the other hand, measures such as optimizing the listing process and regime to reduce compliance and administrative costs, and streamlining prospectus disclosure requirements to enhance the competitiveness of the listing mechanism, will not only help continuously enhance the attractiveness of Hong Kong's capital market to international investors, but will also further consolidate Hong Kong's capital market position as a cross-border investment and financing hub. Zhang Bingxian, Managing Partner of EY Hong Kong and Macau, said the EY team will continue to work with all sectors to jointly promote Hong Kong in seizing new opportunities brought by national development and global economic transformation, further enhance Hong Kong's international competitiveness, and achieve higher-quality, more resilient and more sustainable development. The relevant measures are aligned with the direction of EY's recommendations and will help Hong Kong further leverage its advantages as an international platform, provide high value-added support in rules, standards, compliance, and risk management, and enhance the influence of Hong Kong's institutional and professional services. Combined with the Policy Address's proposals to deepen the work of the going-global task force and expand the international economic and trade network, Hong Kong will effectively play the role of a "super connector" and "super value-adder" in the country's high-level opening up, and support enterprises in grasping opportunities in the Greater Bay Area and international markets. Zheng Jieshen, Tax Leader of EY Hong Kong and Macau, said the measures reflect that the government is promoting economic transformation through the coordination of industrial policy and tax policy, and their direction also echoes EY's recommendations to build the Northern Metropolis into a demonstration zone for industrial and tax policy innovation, and to support high value-added and innovative ShenZhen New Industries Biomedical Engineering development with more targeted tax incentives. Guan Wenjun, Managing Partner of Strategy and Transactions Services for EY Greater China, said EY welcomes the government's more organized resource coordination and more targeted support for emerging industries and future industries with strategic value and high-quality development. Among them, the optimization of the digital transformation support pilot program mentioned under "Artificial Intelligence+" is aligned with the direction of EY's recommendations, and the policy is expected to help address the current pain points of small and medium-sized enterprises in applying artificial intelligence and strengthen their competitiveness.