Hui Ching-yu: Beijing and Hong Kong Have Complementary Advantages and Broad Space for Collaborative Development

On November 4, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of Hong Kong Hui Ching-yu attended the "Invest Hong Kong" thematic promotion event of the 29th Beijing-Hong Kong Economic Cooperation Symposium in Beijing. In his remarks, he noted that Hong Kong and Beijing have complementary advantages and enormous cooperation potential. As the country's financial management center, Beijing is home to numerous headquarters of leading enterprises and financial institutions and serves as a policy source and innovation core. At the same time, Beijing boasts the country's top universities and research talent and is a key hub for national innovation and technology development. Hong Kong, as a leading international financial center, has a mature and efficient capital market, a common law system aligned with international standards, and comprehensive professional services, with free flow of capital and information, making it an ideal bridge connecting the mainland and overseas markets. On how Beijing and Hong Kong can further deepen cooperation in the future, especially how to capture new development space, Hui Ching-yu put forward four ideas. First, make good use of Hong Kong's role as a "super connector" and "super value-adder" to fully support mainland enterprises, including those in Beijing, in going global via Hong Kong. Hong Kong has world-class professional services aligned with international standards, providing enterprises with all-round support in legal, accounting, financial, cross-border trade financing, multinational supply chain management, tax planning, compliance consulting and other areas. In addition, the SAR government established a dedicated task force on mainland enterprises going global in October last year to provide one-stop, tailor-made support for mainland enterprises going global, helping them set sail after making preparations in Hong Kong. In enhancing Hong Kong's position as a major base for corporate treasury centers, Hong Kong has no foreign exchange controls, and funds in multiple currencies can flow freely in and out, making it an ideal platform for centralized allocation and management of offshore business funds. Hong Kong is determined to comprehensively strengthen the attractiveness of its two-way platform for "bringing in and going global" so as to better integrate into and serve the overall development of the country. Mainland enterprises setting up treasury centers in Hong Kong can not only enhance the flexibility of fund deployment but also benefit from the SAR government's relevant tax concession incentives, further improving overall capital returns and operational efficiency. Hui Ching-yu said Hong Kong has completed a preliminary study and, in response to the pain points currently faced by the industry, proposed optimization directions, suggesting that on top of the existing concession measures, a pre-approval mechanism be added to give additional tax incentives and flexibility to pre-approved corporate treasury centers and their Hong Kong associated enterprises. Second, jointly capture the enormous development potential of Hong Kong's Northern Metropolis. The Northern Metropolis is a new engine for Hong Kong's future economic development and an important base for promoting innovation and technology and other emerging industry clusters. The SAR government will take the university town, innovation and technology, industry, and "livable, workable and visitable" as development goals to achieve integrated development of education, technology and talent, forming an innovation and technology ecosystem with deep integration of industry, academia and research, and also a base for Hong Kong to advance new industrialization and lay out future industries. Hui Ching-yu said he very much welcomes Beijing enterprises and financial institutions to plan ahead and actively participate in the construction and investment of the Northern Metropolis to jointly seize the enormous opportunities there. Third, increase support for the innovation and technology industry through financial strength. Beijing ranks among the nation's leaders in many areas such as artificial intelligence, biomedicine, new energy and green technology, and has nurtured a large number of outstanding science and technology enterprises. To promote the commercialization and industrialization of research results, strong capital support is indispensable. It is hoped that through Hong Kong's international platform, full-chain funding support can be provided for the innovation and technology industries of Beijing and Hong Kong. Hong Kong has a vibrant venture capital fund ecosystem, with assets under management by private equity and venture capital funds currently amounting to about US$250 billion. Hong Kong also continues to update its listing rules, including the introduction of Chapter 18C, making it easier for specialist technology companies and hard-tech companies to list and raise funds in Hong Kong, and through Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited to play the leading role of patient capital, encouraging Beijing's innovation and technology enterprises to use this as a springboard to bring research results to the international market. Fourth, deepen green cooperation to serve the country's "dual carbon" goals. Beijing is actively promoting green and low-carbon transformation, while Hong Kong is Asia's leading green finance center. In 2025, the amount of green and sustainable debt issued in Hong Kong exceeded US$76 billion. Among this, the total amount of green and sustainable bonds arranged for issuance in Hong Kong was about US$38 billion, ranking first in the Asian market for eight consecutive years since 2018. The two sides can further promote the issuance of green bonds, the certification and matching of green projects, and explore standards and practices for transition finance. Through Hong Kong's financial market, more international capital can be guided to participate in the green transformation and development of Beijing and even the whole country. Hui Ching-yu concluded that the development strategies and goals of Beijing and Hong Kong are highly aligned, their advantages are complementary, and there is broad space for coordinated development. He looks forward to continuing to strengthen communication and cooperation with all sectors and enterprises in Beijing in the future and to jointly creating win-win outcomes.