Hong Kong is expected to outperform Switzerland as the world’s top wealth hub by 2027 to 2028, leveraging its role as a critical link between the Chinese mainland, Asia, and the global market, Mark Tucker, group chairman of HSBC Holdings, said at the HSBC Global Investment Summit on Tuesday.
During the three-day event themed New Networks Connecting the Global Economy, officials and business insiders said, despite evolving geopolitical and trade dynamics, China’s technological achievements and capital market development are gaining momentum. The funding needs of mainland tech firms could benefit the capital market of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, they added.
Tucker said, global trade remains a core catalyst for growth and diversification amid headwinds, as evidenced by the continued increase in trade within regions and between emerging markets.
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Exports between Asian countries and regions, for instance, surged 31 percent over the past five years and are projected to increase by $400 billion annually through 2030, mainly buoyed by the China-Association of Southeast Asian Nations and India-ASEAN corridors, he said.
“China is a central node in these new networks,” Tucker said, adding that the country’s economic transformation has seen “material development” in recent months. The rise of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has shown the innovative capacity of the country’s private sector, he added.
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“The real opportunity is for China to continue with its process of opening up its market,” Tucker said. Against this backdrop, he said he believes Hong Kong, as a super-connector between the mainland and the rest of the world, can play an important role and should further cement its position as a global financial hub.
Tucker also commended the advancement of the country’s draft private sector promotion law, which he said is conducive to the creation of a business-friendly environment that can enhance confidence and promote innovation.
Qi Bin, deputy director of the central government’s liaison office in the Hong Kong SAR, said he also regarded Beijing’s backing of private enterprises as an important factor in the recovery of the SAR’s capital market.
President Xi Jinping’s Feb 17 meeting with leaders of private businesses “sent a clear signal of policy stability and support, which boosted the confidence of global investors”, Qi said.
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Joe Tsai Chung-Hsin, co-founder and chairman of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, said he has seen “a very clear sign (among) businesses” that entrepreneurs have become more confident following the meeting with President Xi. They have fresh confidence to reinvest in themselves and hire more people, Tsai said.
The Hang Seng Index, the benchmark of Hong Kong’s bourse, had surged more than 20 percent as of mid-March, its highest level since February 2022. Daily market turnover reached nearly $26 billion at the end of February, up around 140 percent year-on-year.
“The recent positive momentum of Hong Kong’s economic and social development shows that the key to Hong Kong’s economic growth is financial market development,” said Qi. Meanwhile, solidifying the strength of the HKSAR’s capital market is an “obvious choice” to promote the country’s technological innovation and industrial upgrades, he added.
He said, the central government will continue to support the “accelerated integration” of the city’s capital market with high-tech firms from the mainland. Hong Kong can help these companies that have emerged in the AI and robotics sectors recently in fundraising and empower them to grow as potential global leaders, he added.
