While Hong Kong FinTech Week, held Oct 31 to Nov 4, 2022, was in many ways a game-changing conference — since it was the first major in-person event to be held in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region following the easing of travel restrictions in late September — the recently celebrated Asian Financial Forum (AFF) marked the city’s first attempt to bounce back to the center of the world after the HKSAR dropped most travel restrictions.
Hong Kong FinTech Week opened a new era for Hong Kong, or, more precisely, reclaimed the past glory that had been temporarily buried because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It marked a return to the massive events that have long attracted thousands of people to fly to Hong Kong to participate and to network, and thus enhanced Hong Kong’s role as one of the world’s most important financial centers. The 16th AFF, held Jan 11 and 12, fully demonstrated the force of the reopening momentum, proving to the world that Hong Kong can not only celebrate major events again, but can also compete with the other major financial centers in the world in magnitude and effectiveness.
Organized by the HKSAR government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the AFF was once again held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. With over 1,000 participants on day one, the event wrap-up poll showed that close to 70 percent of respondents indicated a neutral-to-positive sentiment toward the global economic outlook, despite the fact that a third of the global economy is forecast to be in recession in 2023.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said that the doors to the “freest economy” are opening wider. The city is taking a lead in facilitating global cooperation to stimulate growth, according to HKTDC chairman Dr Peter KN Lam.
Indeed, the AFF — with the theme for this year being, “Accelerating Transformation: Impact – Inclusion – Innovation”, came with perfect timing following the resumption of quarantine-free travel between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, and with Hong Kong’s international business travel returning to normal. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said that the doors to the “freest economy” are opening wider. The city is taking a lead in facilitating global cooperation to stimulate growth, according to HKTDC chairman Dr Peter KN Lam.
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Hong Kong is shaping its niche in fintech innovation and advancing its way to a world-leading data hub. Ban Ki-moon, the eighth United Nations Secretary-General, called for harnessing “the time of uncertainty to pave the way towards a more sustainable, healthy and prosperous world for all”. The AFF showed that Hong Kong has more to contribute to the international community. As the world confronts a souring economy, Hong Kong is eyeing a bright future ahead this year (as I mentioned in my recent China Daily Hong Kong column, Opportunities and Challenges for Hong Kong in 2023, Jan 11).
In a panel discussion, Victor Yim from Cyberport Hong Kong, the forerunner of fintech and big data located on the southern waterfront of the city, said he sees Fintech 2.0 as a constructive measure to upgrade financial services with cross-border cooperation within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area for the booming new market.
The city now is embracing opportunities from the Greater Bay Area development, and, by playing a proactive part in China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), the HKSAR is unleashing its potential thanks to unreserved support from the central authorities for advancing key strategies to upgrade its “super-connector” role, including the eRMB (digital renminbi) and environmental, social and governance (ESG). The AFF turned out to be a transformative force to strengthen, and also upgrade, Hong Kong’s status as an international financial, trade and logistics hub.
As for fintech, despite the last three and a half years of hardships and competition from other financial centers, Hong Kong remains as strong as ever. Hong Kong, Macao (to a lesser but relevant extent) and the rest of the Greater Bay Area are indeed increasing their role as fintech hubs. Fintech 2025, released earlier last year, aims at pivoting the HKSAR toward a friendlier regulatory regime for digital assets, proving that the city is positioning itself to become a virtual assets center/crypto hub.
Hong Kong’s entry to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) — one of the world’s largest free trade pacts — would create opportunities not only for the city but also for other members of the grouping, as recently stated by the chief executive. As one of the world’s key financial and trading centers and the gateway to the Greater Bay Area, as well as to the rest of the Chinese mainland, the HKSAR can provide essential project financing and professional services, innovation and technology. It also boasts the capacity to serve as a hub for China’s State-owned enterprises to team up with other RCEP members in financing joint investments and opportunities in countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.
READ MORE: AFF marks promising start to financial activity in Hong Kong in 2023
As for the connect schemes, the mutual stock market access between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong (Stock Connect) was recently expanded to include eligible exchange-traded funds (ETFs), allowing Hong Kong and foreign investors to trade ETFs listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and those from the mainland to invest in Hong Kong-listed ETFs, thus enhancing Hong Kong’s role as the mainland’s offshore capital hub. This all proves that Hong Kong’s new links with the mainland financial markets are beneficial.
With the city’s huge potential in other areas, such as blockchain-based trade finance platforms, the AFF went one step further by showing the world that Hong Kong is 100 percent back, and can once again finally compete, unrestrained, with other major financial centers and benefit from its distinctive traits bestowed by the “one country, two systems” principle.
The author is a fintech adviser, researcher and a former business analyst for a Hong Kong publicly listed company.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.