Hong Kong finance chief reports 8.4% rise in mainland tourists during Golden Week
Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan said the first three days of National Day Golden Week saw over 732,000 mainland visitors, up 8.4% year-on-year. Chan also highlighted growing cooperation with the Middle East and Global South during a recent trip to Qatar for the AIIB annual meeting.
Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan said the National Day Golden Week had begun with a strong festive atmosphere in the city, with more than 732,000 mainland Chinese tourist arrivals in the first three days, an increase of about 8.4 per cent compared with the same period last year.
In a blog post on 4 October, Chan said he visited a cha chaan teng in Central on National Day itself and encountered many residents and tourists, creating a lively and cheerful atmosphere.
Chan also discussed his recent trip to Doha, Qatar, for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) annual meeting, where he exchanged views with political and business figures from various countries. He expressed confidence that cooperation between China, Hong Kong, and the Middle East and Global South was accelerating, moving from capital and personnel flows toward broader collaboration on innovation, technology, industrial projects, and deeper sharing of institutional-building experience.
According to Chan, Middle Eastern economies have been actively pursuing economic diversification, with key investment themes including infrastructure, artificial intelligence, digitalisation, and healthcare — areas that align with Hong Kong's innovation and technology development direction. Over the past year, Middle Eastern funds had notably increased their participation in Hong Kong initial public offerings (IPOs). One Middle Eastern fund noted it had taken part in more Hong Kong IPOs over the past year and wanted to increase its investment weighting in the city. Representatives from Central Asian countries said they hoped to learn from Hong Kong's experience in developing a common-law-based international financial centre, study listing regulations for real estate investment trusts, and welcome Hong Kong banks to set up operations in their countries.
Chan said business chamber representatives from the Middle East had shown strong interest in his suggestion to specify Hong Kong as the venue for mediation and arbitration in contracts. He argued this demonstrated Hong Kong's value in regional cooperation extended beyond financial markets to its unique position under the 'one country, two systems' principle connecting mainland China and the world, as well as its common law system, credibility, international professional services, and other soft-power advantages.
At the AIIB annual meeting, Chan delivered a keynote speech on Hong Kong's digital public infrastructure, sharing the city's experience in identity authentication, convenient electronic payments, and data exchange. He concluded that the trip had clearly shown cooperation between Hong Kong, the Middle East, and the Global South was deepening and becoming more substantive, demonstrating how Hong Kong could play the roles of 'super connector' and 'super value-adder'. In the coming months, Hong Kong would host several international financial events, allowing industry elites and political and business leaders from around the world to exchange views face-to-face and better showcase Hong Kong's advantages and business environment to promote practical cooperation.