Embarking on a new journey of Hong Kong-Beijing financial co-operation
The Chief Executive and the Mayor of Beijing, Mr Yin Yong co-chaired the Fifth Plenary Session of the Hong Kong/Beijing Co-operation Conference in Hong Kong today. At the meeting, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Local Financial Regulation and Supervision and I signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Enhancing Hong Kong-Beijing Co-operation on the Development of the Financial Industry, marking a new stage and a new level of financial co-operation between the two places.
Beijing is our country’s financial management hub where national financial regulators and a host of financial institutions cluster, with a total value of financial assets exceeding RMB 200 trillion. Hong Kong, on the other hand, is our country’s international financial centre. It is also a gateway to access the world’s financial markets and reach out to global investors. By joining forces to step up financial co-operation, Beijing and Hong Kong will certainly make active contributions to accelerating the building of our nation with a strong financial sector, advancing its high-level financial opening-up and boosting the high-quality development of its financial sector.
Specifically, we will deepen our co-operation with Beijing in developing the financial industry in four major directions:
1. Enhancing co-operation in the capital market. With its premier financing platform, Hong Kong can serve as a springboard for Beijing enterprises to “go global”. In fact, many quality enterprises from Beijing have already chosen to list in Hong Kong. As at the end of this October, the number of Beijing enterprises listed in Hong Kong has reached 260, with a total market capitalisation of nearly HK$8.86 trillion and the amount of capital raised exceeding HK$3.17 trillion. In terms of both the volume of market capitalisation and the amount of capital raised, Hong Kong was ranked first in our country. The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) has been working with various associations and organisations, including the Administrative Commission of Zhongguancun Science Park in Beijing and the China Pharmaceutical Innovation and Research Development Association, in organising seminars and training activities with the aim of supporting, encouraging and assisting new economy enterprises from the Mainland (including unicorn enterprises and biotechnology enterprises from Zhongguancun) to list in Hong Kong for financing. I hope that more Beijing enterprises will leverage Hong Kong’s listing platform, including the listing regime for specialist technology companies launched this March.
Moreover, we will explore with the Beijing Municipal Government the promotion of enhanced co-operation between the Beijing Stock Exchange and the HKEX to sustain efforts to deepen and widen mutual access between the two financial markets.
2. Promoting two-way opening-up of the financial industry. As at this June, Hong Kong’s banks have set up over 40 business points in Beijing, providing banking services for active Hong Kong clients and Mainland residents therein. Meanwhile, nearly 120 licensed institutions or registered corporations in Hong Kong are owned by some 50 Beijing enterprises. The governments of the two places will facilitate the two-way flow of financial talent, and back eligible financial institutions to establish a foothold in each other’s market.
3. Deepening co-operation in green and sustainable finance. The China Beijing Green Exchange and the HKEX signed an MOU yesterday (28 November) to strengthen mutual co-operation in green finance and carbon market. The Beijing Municipality commands a leading position nationwide in various indicators of green finance and green transformation. As at the end of last year, the outstanding green loans of Beijing in both local and foreign currencies amounted to RMB 1.5 trillion. Meanwhile, the aggregate size of green bonds issued by non-financial corporates exceeded RMB 190 billion, the biggest in the country. Hong Kong is Asia’s green finance hub. Last year, the amount of green and sustainable debt issued in Hong Kong topped US$80 billion, with green bond issuance accounting for one-third of the market share in Asia. Beijing enterprises have our support to issue green bonds in Hong Kong and make good use of our top-notch professional services.
4. Strengthening co-operation in fintech. Both Hong Kong and Beijing attach great importance to fintech development following the global trend of its promotion. I welcome fintech enterprises and talent from Beijing to come to Hong Kong, where they can leverage our robust fintech ecosystem, facilitative policies and advantage of enjoying strong support from our country while being closely connected to the world to develop innovative fintech products and solutions, with a view to assisting enterprises and the public to gain access to more efficient and convenient financial services with higher levels of security, reliability and cost-effectiveness.
29 November 2023