Hong Kong Business News

Financial Secretary Paul Chan has begun a visit to New York by delivering a keynote speech at the Bloomberg Global Regulatory Forum on the theme of how to build a future-proof financial system.

Mr Chan outlined that despite facing various challenges in recent years, Hong Kong’s economic and financial fundamentals remain strong and resilient.

He highlighted that data, in addition to international rankings and assessments, show that Hong Kong continues to play an important role in the global financial market and serve as a leading international financial centre in Asia. He added that its levels of economic freedom and competitiveness are among the highest in the world, and that recent inflows of investment from the US and Europe reflect confidence in the city.

Mr Chan also iterated that thanks to the “one country, two systems” arrangement and China’s pursuit of high-level opening-up, Hong Kong’s unique advantages will only become more evident, making the city better able to fulfil its role as a “super-connector.”

In his speech, Mr Chan also elaborated on Hong Kong’s robust financial regulation.

He said that as a small and fully open economy, the city has learned from past experience how to respond to external shocks and market volatility. This has been achieved through identifying and addressing systemic weaknesses, establishing a cross-sectoral, co-ordinated and round-the-clock risk detection and monitoring system, and building strong buffers to respond to various risks and challenges.

The Financial Secretary emphasised that the ultimate goal of financial regulation is to promote healthy and sustainable market development, which is why Hong Kong’s financial regulators take on dual roles as both regulators and market enablers. He explained that this requires them to establish an agile and forward-looking regulatory regime, respond swiftly to market changes, and embrace technological innovation, with a view to creating the conditions for a thriving market and promoting the financial system’s long-term development.

Finally, Mr Chan shared two key future development directions for Hong Kong – namely that it will continued to deepen various “connect” schemes and strengthen links and regulatory co-operation with Mainland and global capital markets; and that it will embrace innovation, which includes enabling the responsible and sustainable development of digital assets.

Prior to giving his speech, Mr Chan met Founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies Michael Bloomberg to exchange views on issues of mutual concern.