Algernon Yau: Hong Kong's Go Global Task Force helps over 360 mainland enterprises come to Hong Kong; target of attracting 1,200 enterprises in investment promotion over this year and next

Hong Kong's Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Algernon Yau, said today (November 4) in a written reply to a lawmaker's question at the Legislative Council meeting that, on investment promotion, the performance indicator announced in the 2025 Policy Address is to attract at least a total of 1,200 mainland or overseas enterprises to set up or expand operations in Hong Kong between 2026 and 2027, including mainland enterprises that establish a presence in Hong Kong and prepare to use Hong Kong as a base for going global. On the other hand, from the establishment of the Go Global Task Force to September this year, the Task Force has assisted more than 360 mainland enterprises from different provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in setting up or expanding operations in Hong Kong, and has assisted them in listing and raising funds in Hong Kong, aligning with overseas standards, obtaining industry certifications and compliance arrangements, etc., so as to make the necessary preparations for going global. Yau mentioned that, to better support mainland enterprises in going global via Hong Kong, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (CEDB) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region established in October last year the Mainland Enterprises Going Global Task Force (Go Global Task Force), supervised by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, integrating Invest Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Hong Kong's offices in the Mainland, to provide tailor-made support services to mainland enterprises through a one-stop platform, while making good use of the network of the 15 overseas Economic and Trade Offices of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government to build bridges for mainland enterprises in overseas markets, find overseas partners and expand business opportunities. Since its establishment, the Go Global Task Force has held four steering committee meetings and, through the three-step strategy of "bringing in", preparing for going global and "going out", has helped mainland enterprises go global via Hong Kong in an orderly manner. In response to the question from lawmaker Huang Yongwei, Yau replied as follows: (1) Under the overarching direction of "bringing in and going out", the work of the Go Global Task Force is consistent with the Government's overall strategy on investment promotion and continuous expansion of the international economic and trade network. On investment promotion, the performance indicator announced in the 2025 Policy Address is to attract at least a total of 1,200 mainland or overseas enterprises to set up or expand operations in Hong Kong between 2026 and 2027, including mainland enterprises that establish a presence in Hong Kong and prepare to use Hong Kong as a base for going global. On the other hand, from the establishment of the Go Global Task Force to September this year, the Task Force has assisted more than 360 mainland enterprises from different provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in setting up or expanding operations in Hong Kong, and has assisted them in listing and raising funds in Hong Kong, aligning with overseas standards, obtaining industry certifications and compliance arrangements, etc., so as to make the necessary preparations for going global. These enterprises mainly cover sectors such as transport and logistics and industry, fintech, innovation and technology, tourism and hospitality, digital technology and data innovation, and life and health sciences. About 30% of the enterprises position their Hong Kong operations as an international headquarters, regional headquarters, corporate treasury centre or other high-value-added corporate functions, reflecting Hong Kong's important role as a high-value-added platform for going global. It is estimated that these enterprises will bring about HK$61.3 billion in direct investment to Hong Kong and create about 8,500 new jobs. There are many success stories among these enterprises that have established a presence in Hong Kong. For example, a Chinese medicine enterprise that is a Fortune Global 500 company has set up a corporate treasury centre and an R&D centre in Hong Kong, leveraging Hong Kong's international medical technology and research standards to help advance the modernisation and internationalisation of Chinese medicine. In addition, an enterprise engaged in artificial intelligence technology and products has successfully connected with Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, and has located in Hong Kong its R&D work targeted at overseas markets. The CEDB will continue to actively attract high-potential mainland enterprises to Hong Kong and assist enterprises that have established a presence in Hong Kong in preparing for going global. At the same time, the Go Global Task Force will use Hong Kong's international network to help enterprises expand their business overseas, and will systematically engage with relevant enterprises to gain an in-depth understanding of their latest operations and developments. (2) The 2026 Policy Address proposes that the Go Global Task Force will deepen cooperation with Hong Kong and mainland industry associations to provide more targeted support services to mainland enterprises. The Go Global Task Force will, together with Hong Kong and mainland industry associations and chambers of commerce (including local federations of industry and commerce, local branches of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, etc.), hold industry-themed briefings and seminars in different provinces and municipalities, so that mainland enterprises can gain a deeper understanding of Hong Kong's high-value-added services and advantages as a platform for going global, as well as the preparations required for going global, enabling enterprises to plan their going-global deployment earlier in the Mainland and then expand overseas business via Hong Kong. The Go Global Task Force will also, through the networks of various Hong Kong chambers of commerce, industry associations and professional organisations, reach out to more mainland enterprises interested in expanding into overseas markets and relevant Hong Kong professional service providers, so as to gain an in-depth understanding of market demand for professional services and help enterprises plan for going global. (3) One of the main tasks of the Go Global Task Force is to organise outbound visits led by principal officials of the SAR Government, enabling enterprises to gain first-hand understanding of target overseas markets and explore cooperation opportunities there. In June this year, the Chief Executive personally led a business delegation, including representatives of more than 30 mainland enterprises, to visit Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, reaching a total of 96 cooperation agreements and memoranda of understanding, involving a total value of more than US$1.65 billion. Some of the mainland enterprises in the delegation have successfully launched multiple cooperation projects in Central Asia and are progressively deploying to go global to Central Asia. The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development also led more than ten mainland enterprises on a visit to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in August this year to connect with the vast market of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, achieving positive results, including delegation members exchanging two cooperation memoranda with local enterprises and chambers of commerce respectively, and Invest Hong Kong signing a memorandum of understanding with the Malaysian Investment Development Authority to strengthen two-way investment cooperation between the two places, helping to further assist mainland enterprises in expanding their business locally. Building on the successful experience and rich results of organising outbound visits this year, the Go Global Task Force will continue to organise outbound visits in 2027, and will set the relevant arrangements having regard to factors such as the outbound visit schedules of the relevant principal officials, the latest developments in overseas markets, economic and trade relations with Hong Kong (for example, whether the economy has signed a free trade agreement or investment agreement with Hong Kong (Note 1)), and the investment plans of mainland enterprises. Details will be announced in due course. (4) The CEDB has maintained communication with relevant mainland government authorities on arrangements for enterprises going global. In February 2026, the CEDB signed with the Ministry of Commerce the Memorandum of Understanding on Strengthening Exchange and Cooperation in the Field of Overseas Comprehensive Services (the Memorandum), to strengthen exchange and cooperation with the Mainland in the field of overseas comprehensive services, promote greater cooperation between mainland enterprises going global and Hong Kong professional service providers, and enhance the capacity to serve mainland enterprises going global. The Go Global Task Force will continue to actively follow up on the implementation of the measures in the Memorandum, maintain communication with mainland government authorities, and, in line with the economic characteristics and industry strengths of different provinces and municipalities, identify suitable enterprises that need to go global and provide the necessary professional service support, so as to support the relevant enterprises in going global via Hong Kong in a more focused and precise manner. To strengthen and more systematically coordinate Hong Kong's professional services support for enterprises going global, the Go Global Task Force launched in April this year the "Go Global Connect" cross-sector professional service platform, bringing together eight categories of Hong Kong professional service providers to provide professional advisory services to mainland enterprises going global. At present, the platform has brought together more than 220 Hong Kong professional service providers and has handled about 300 enquiries from enterprises going global through Wuxi Online Offline Communication Information Technology Co., Ltd. The Go Global Task Force will continue to optimise the platform's matching function, assist mainland enterprises in connecting with Hong Kong professional service providers and track the effectiveness of cases, and enhance the platform's search and matching functions to display service providers of different scales, so as to more precisely match the needs of different enterprises going global. The 2026 Policy Address proposes further optimising the work of the cross-sector professional service platform by adding "environmental, social and governance" services, making good use of Hong Kong's international professional capabilities to assist mainland enterprises in meeting the regulatory requirements of target markets on relevant technical standards and market access thresholds. The CEDB will continue to invite more professional service providers of different scales and expertise to join the platform, providing mainland enterprises with more diversified and more appropriate professional support services.