The Zhitong Finance App learned that on September 18, while attending a press conference, Hong Kong's Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Hui Ching-yu, said that finance is Hong Kong's fundamental and greatest advantage. Facing 100 years of changes in the world, Hong Kong's financial industry should not keep up with its achievements; it should take more initiative. Meanwhile, the five-year plan and policy report reflect two major strategic changes. One is a shift from pursuing scale to improving functionality, serving the real economy and making asset price discoveries; the other is Hong Kong's transformation from a financial city to a financially empowered city, using finance as an introduction to promoting the development of technology, greenery, and people's livelihood.
He said that the significance of Hong Kong's first five-year plan for Hong Kong is a shift in thinking to plan Hong Kong's financial development with a longer-term perspective and a broader perspective, making Hong Kong a “must-go destination” for capital.
Furthermore, he mentioned that since the London Metal Exchange (LME) incorporated Hong Kong into the global warehouse network last year, it has now stored more than 30,000 tons of metal in Hong Kong. He will personally lead the newly established Joint Working Group on Commodity Trading and work with various financial regulators to comprehensively examine market opportunities and the direction of cross-exchange cooperation.
The Policy Address suggests that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority is studying a moderate increase in the Exchange Fund's gold holdings. When asked how to balance related risks, Hui Ching-yu said that there is already a mechanism to comprehensively consider various factors when allocating assets.
Additionally, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) finance ministers meeting will be held in Hong Kong next month. Xu Zhengyu believes that it is necessary to show China's voice through the conference. In particular, the country has undergone new changes in the international stage, social economy, etc. over the past year, and the SAR government will cooperate in accordance with the unified deployment of the Ministry of Finance. He also said that he hopes to add Hong Kong elements to the conference, including considering hosting a visiting event, so that guests from 21 economies can fully understand the current state of Hong Kong's economy, society, people's livelihood, culture and art.