Hung Pei-cheng: Hong Kong's financial industry performed extremely well last year, with significant growth seen in areas such as the stock market.

The Chairman of the Hong Kong Financial Development Bureau, Hong Bi, stated at the ASIA FINANCIAL Forum's special breakfast meeting that last year was an unprecedented year, with frequent global policy fluctuations affecting a wide range of areas. This has prompted investors to re-examine whether their investment portfolios are overly concentrated in a particular sector, and they are hoping to reduce the risks posed by policy changes through better asset allocation. Hong Bi pointed out that Hong Kong played a crucial role in the past year, assisting international investors to diversify investments from mature markets to emerging markets, as well as helping mainland Chinese investors to diversify assets from local markets globally, reflecting Hong Kong's role as a bridge in the international financial center. He emphasized that the financial services industry plays a pivotal role in the Hong Kong economy, and Hong Kong also possesses unique advantages that other financial centers cannot provide, including a highly internationalized market, comprehensive regulatory system, and close ties with the mainland. He welcomed more businesses to invest and develop in Hong Kong. Hong Bi highlighted that the overall performance of the financial industry in Hong Kong last year was very strong, with significant growth in various sectors such as the stock market, IPOs, banking, insurance, wealth management, and family offices, showing encouraging development momentum. He noted that the Financial Development Bureau will continue to play its role, actively putting forward forward-looking policy suggestions to ensure that the Hong Kong financial industry maintains its international competitiveness, and continues to promote Hong Kong as the preferred financial platform to global investors and financial institutions.