Chen Maobo: The amount of funds raised by new stocks in Hong Kong this year has exceeded HK$140 billion. The development of the Hong Kong financial market is unstoppable.

Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po today (April 26) issued an article titled "Gathering Greater Energy through Innovation and Collaboration." In the article, Paul Chan Mo-po stated that following last year's good performance, Hong Kong continues to lead the world in terms of new stock fundraising this year. As of this week, the amount raised by new stocks on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has exceeded HK$140 billion, with more high-quality enterprises seizing the opportunity to make use of Hong Kong's vibrant financing platform to accelerate their global business expansion. Since March, the average daily turnover of Hong Kong stocks has exceeded HK$280 billion. These developments confirm that, despite the changing international environment, with the joint and unremitting efforts of the government and the industry, the development of Hong Kong's financial markets cannot be stopped. Paul Chan Mo-po mentioned that the function and essence of Hong Kong's international financial center continue to strengthen and enhance, opening up new growth points through continuous innovation and cooperation despite the challenges brought by the changing geopolitical landscape. This week, in addition to welcoming the largest IPO listing of the year, Hong Kong also witnessed the listing of the largest gold ETF, as well as the announcement by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange of a jointly launched index with the Malaysia Stock Exchange, with related ETFs set to be launched. He stated that the largest gold ETF listed in Hong Kong this week supports the redemption of physical gold, enabling "trading and storage in Hong Kong," helping Hong Kong gradually build a complete gold industry chain and value chain. With the advantages of stability, security, and the convergence of funds and talent in Hong Kong, including the free flow of factors such as capital and data, a familiar and trusted legal system and rule of law, the city's attractiveness to global investors is further increasing. As the development of investment market hot topics continues, the variety of underlying assets on ETFs is increasing, ranging from precious metals spot and futures, technology companies, semiconductor companies, to digital assets, providing investors with efficient and highly transparent investment tool options spanning different themes or combining different leverage characteristics. Looking at long-term trends, Paul Chan Mo-po pointed out that from 2014 to 2024, the scale of global investment in Asia has doubled to around $6 trillion, with the Asia capital market growing four times since 2000 to surpass $34 trillion by the end of 2024. Global institutional investors are actively seeking diversified and long-term growth opportunities, and Asia has many emerging leading companies and projects in various areas such as green energy innovation, advanced manufacturing, and digital finance, with diverse and strong development momentum. As a leading international financial center in the region, Hong Kong will continue to play the role of "super connector," promoting efficient matching of capital with regional opportunities for mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. Currently, Hong Kong has signed mutual recognition agreements with 20 global exchanges to facilitate dual listing of companies, building a wider market cooperation network. The Hong Kong government is also actively studying the inclusion of the Malaysia Stock Exchange in the list of "recognized stock exchanges" to create conditions for expanding Islamic finance and exploring new sources of funds and new listings. Paul Chan Mo-po also mentioned that with the mainland's May Day Golden Week approaching, the Hong Kong Immigration Department expects about 980,000 mainland tourists to visit Hong Kong during the holiday period, an increase of about 7% from the same period last year. The Hong Kong government will make preparations for crowd management at various attractions and popular spots, with the hope of providing a better experience for visitors and continuing to benefit industries such as catering and retail.