Hong Kong Financial Secretary touts AI growth and city's global capital role
Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po told the 5th Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit that AI is becoming a basic business capability, while China's industrial base offers fertile ground for AI-native growth. He outlined Hong Kong's 'Finance+' strategy to support innovative firms, d
Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Tuesday highlighted artificial intelligence (AI) as the next wave of growth and positioned the city as a central hub for global capital flows, speaking at the 5th Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit. Chan said global financial leaders could expect the next year's summit to be held in Hong Kong from November 1 to 3, 2027.
Chan described AI as becoming a basic business capability, whether in assessing investments, analysing information, or improving efficiency. As AI becomes more universal, he said, it would no longer provide a competitive edge, and what matters will be how businesses change around the technology. “Technology can improve individual tasks, but its greatest promise is to improve how institutions work and how they serve people,” Chan said.
Chan highlighted that China's comprehensive industrial base and wealth of real-world applications make it fertile ground for AI-native growth, adding that factories, hospitals, and logistics networks provide extensive opportunities to test AI and develop new businesses. He cited World Bank data that small AI applications could especially help developing countries improve productivity in agriculture, healthcare, and education, creating opportunities to leapfrog traditional stages of development.
Under Hong Kong's “Finance+” strategy, Chan outlined two approaches. The first is supporting innovative businesses through different stages of development as they connect with international capital. He noted that the city offers A+H listings that help mainland companies reach global investors and give those investors greater access to opportunities in China. Chan also said the Hong Kong Investment Corporation is helping build a patient-capital ecosystem for enterprises, including by working with international investors such as sovereign funds, sovereign wealth funds, and pension funds.
The second approach focuses on strengthening Hong Kong's own contribution to innovation. “Our ambition is not only to finance businesses created elsewhere, but also to help create the enterprises of tomorrow,” Chan said. He said the Northern Metropolis will be key in bringing universities, research facilities, and technology enterprises closer together, linking education, technology, and talent more closely with industry, while providing a base for closer collaboration with other Greater Bay Area cities, including Shenzhen and Guangzhou.
Chan also noted that Hong Kong is deepening engagement with the Global South, including Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia, turning those relationships into investment channels. He highlighted that the city has welcomed more enterprises from Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia to list in Hong Kong. In the Middle East, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia have launched exchange-traded funds tracking each other's markets. In Central Asia, Kazakhstan has already tapped Hong Kong's equity and bond market. Chan also pointed to key growth in gold and commodities, saying Hong Kong is expanding gold storage capacity to over 2,000 tons initially within three years, while the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing is preparing new yuan-denominated physically settled gold futures.
