On January 30, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said in his speech at the Hong Kong Capital Market Forum that in the face of the global high-interest rate environment, the superposition of a number of external uncertainties, the volatility of the financial market, the authorities have monitored around the clock, and there has been no abnormal situation in Hong Kong so far, the financial market continues to operate in an orderly and efficient manner, and the financial system maintains a stable linked exchange rate and operates well.
Chan Mo-po pointed out that although geopolitical factors affect the flow of capital from Europe and the United States, Middle Eastern sovereigns and families** are actively looking for investment opportunities outside Europe and the United States, and believe that Hong Kong can absorb a certain amount of capital inflows. He also stressed that the flow of funds will not be one-sided, and the most important thing is to make good use of Hong Kong's unique advantages, and discussions are currently underway with mainland regulators to speed up the process of approving enterprises to list in Hong Kong. He also said that enterprises from Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian countries will be encouraged to list in Hong Kong, and that they will also make every effort to develop the bond market and supplement their financing functions.
Chan Mo-po believes that the mainland's economy is still growing steadily, and indicators such as social financing and credit growth also grew strongly last year, but it will take a process to cultivate new growth points. Hong Kong will also continue to expand and deepen the "mutual access" with the mainland financial market, and strengthen Hong Kong's positioning as an offshore RMB business hub. One of the key initiatives is the inclusion of a renminbi trading platform in the Southbound Scheme, which allows mainland investors to buy Hong Kong stocks directly with their onshore renminbi and use their funds to further promote liquidity in the Hong Kong market, thereby reducing capital risk. In addition, more international companies will be included. With the deepening of mutual access, Hong Kong's development as an offshore renminbi hub will be further promoted. As a currency function of international **, payment and reserves, it is estimated that the RMB will continue to increase, and the international use of RMB will be more and more in the future, so the demand for RMB-denominated investment and derivatives such as risk management will be increasing.
Hong Kong will also develop its asset and wealth management business to attract more capital to Hong Kong. In the past year, the HKSAR Government has been actively promoting the development of asset and wealth management businesses in Hong Kong. Recently, the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme was announced, and it was clarified that the implementation measures of the Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect will be further enhanced, and new measures will be introduced in due course.
He said that the West's comments on Hong Kong are inevitably biased, and he believes that it is very important to publicize Hong Kong's unique advantages to attract funds, so Hong Kong has actively gone out to visit and held a number of financial events, hoping to continue to introduce the real situation of Hong Kong.
Mr Chan mentioned that Hong Kong's deposits grew by 5% last year, but the overall net inflow of funds was still recorded. During the period, private placement** AUM reached US$220 billion, the largest in Asia. In the first nine months of last year, local bond issuance reached US$507 billion, up 7% year-on-year, and the AUM reached US$400 million according to the latest statistics, leading Asia.
*: Zhitong Finance.