Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Thursday he believes that more tech companies will set up their operations in Hong Kong, leveraging the city’s well-connected financial markets and talent pool to expand globally.
Chan’s remarks came during the listing ceremony of Black Sesame Technologies, a smart automotive chip supplier based in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province. Black Sesame Technologies is the second company to list under Hong Kong’s new Chapter 18C rules, which were designed for pre-revenue specialist technology firms, and the first chip firm to do so.
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The first company to list under the Chapter 18C rules was QuantumPharm Inc in June, a tech company focused on artificial intelligence-driven drug development.
The healthy development of these tech companies requires continuous funding, and Hong Kong’s “18C program” can help them with fundraising and investment, said Sun Dong, secretary for innovation, technology and industry.
In addition to fundraising in Hong Kong, Black Sesame Technologies signed a memorandum of understanding with Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corp last November, in a bid to set up a research and development center in the city, Chan said. According to the agreement, the company is expected to invest $100 million in five years and hire more than 100 R&D professionals.
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The company successfully went public in Hong Kong less than a year after the MOU signing ceremony, confirming that “Hong Kong is fertile ground for innovation and technology companies”, Sun said.
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Leveraging its advantages of being backed by the Chinese mainland and connected to the rest of the world, as well as its role as a “superconnector” and international financial hub, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region can help more tech companies thrive in the city, Sun added.
Black Sesame Technologies opened at HK$18.8 ($2.4), 32.9 percent lower than its IPO price of HK$28. The company plans to raise HK$1.04 billion from the listing, mainly to be used for R&D, commercialization, and operation.
Contact the writer at irisli@chinadailyhk.com
