Hong Kong Business News

Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Christopher Hui today attended the 2024 Lujiazui Forum and visited a specialist technology firm in Shanghai.

At the forum, Mr Hui addressed the second plenary session, “Strengthening International Monetary Policy Co-ordination & Addressing the Challenges of Global Economic Recovery”.

He outlined how Hong Kong copes with challenges and promotes market development under the current international monetary policy from the three perspectives of global monetary policy and real economic performance, financial stability, and financial market development.

Mr Hui pointed out that under the influence of global monetary policies, Hong Kong needs to keep in view the changes in capital flows caused by the interest rate environment and its impact on the financial market.

He said the Exchange Fund provides strong support for the stability of the Hong Kong dollar exchange rate. As of April this year, the foreign currency reserve assets exceeded $3.2 trillion, equivalent to about 1.7 times the Hong Kong dollar monetary base.

Moreover, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government also works with regulators to closely monitor the financial market to ensure that it operates in a stable manner, he added.

  

The treasury chief noted that as US dollar interest rates are now relatively high, issuers will have a cost advantage in raising funds by issuing bonds in renminbi.

“We have also noticed that the interest rate situation has boosted the issuance of offshore RMB bonds in Hong Kong. The issuance size exceeded RMB490 billion last year, representing an increase of 88% over the previous year and reaching a record high.”

As artificial intelligence technology, which is constantly evolving, has been applied to many areas of Hong Kong's financial industry, Mr Hui said the Hong Kong SAR Government will keep an open mind, closely monitor market developments and draw on local and overseas experience in order to promote the responsible use of artificial intelligence in the financial industry.

Apart from attending the forum, Mr Hui also visited the Denglin Technology Company in Shanghai, which is engaged in the research and development of artificial intelligence chips and technology innovation.

Its research and development includes the creation of cutting-edge chip products and software, which continue to expand in finance and many other areas. Mr Hui encouraged the specialist technology company to apply for a listing in Hong Kong.

He will visit the Shanghai Data Exchange and the CCB Fintech Company tomorrow.

The Shanghai Data Exchange was established in November 2021, with the mission to build a data factor market and promote the process of data assetisation, while the CCB Fintech, founded in 2018, is the largest bank-based fintech company among large state-owned commercial banks.

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