Financial Secretary Paul Chan attended the 2025 Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai today and witnessed the signing of the Action Plan for Collaborative Development of Shanghai & Hong Kong International Financial Centres.
Mr Chan, as one of the key guests, took part in the forum’s opening ceremony and morning plenary session.
Themed “Financial Opening-Up & Cooperation for High-Quality Development in a Changing Global Economy”, the forum was jointly organised by the Shanghai Municipal Government, the People’s Bank of China, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
Government officials, financial regulators, industry leaders, renowned think tanks and scholars from multiple countries participated in the forum to discuss topics such as global monetary policy, capital market development, financial technology and innovation, and inclusive finance.
Before the opening ceremony, Mr Chan and Shanghai Municipal People’s Government Executive Vice Mayor Wu Wei jointly witnessed the signing of the action plan.
It was signed by Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Christopher Hui and Shanghai Office for Advancing International Financial Center Development Director-General Zhou Xiaoquan, who is also Shanghai Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau Director.
The action plan covers six areas with a total of 38 measures, including deepening the interconnectivity between Mainland and Hong Kong financial markets, enhancing the linkage and co-operation of the two places’ capital markets, supporting eligible Shanghai enterprises to list and raise funds in Hong Kong, and strengthening collaboration in areas such as commodity trading, reinsurance, green finance and fintech.
The plan aims to further leverage the financial opening up, development and risk management advantages of the two cities, enhance cross-boundary and offshore financial co-operation, and promote the co-ordinated development of the two international financial centres.
In his speech at the ceremony, Mr Chan explained that the action plan further specifies the directions of co-operation between Hong Kong and Shanghai, thereby injecting new and richer content into multi-level and multi-field financial collaboration.
Furthermore, he noted that it includes new measures to deepen financial interconnectivity, highlights support for Mainland enterprises to go global, and promotes standard alignment and financial innovation.
Mr Chan added that with strong support from the country, Hong Kong and Shanghai will join forces to create greater synergy and collaborative benefits, thus making greater contributions to the country’s development as a financial powerhouse.
Upon arriving in Shanghai yesterday, the Financial Secretary attended an international exchange dinner hosted by the China Finance 40 Forum where he shared how Hong Kong is striving to promote high-quality financial development amid global political and economic changes.
Mr Chan departed for Hong Kong around noon today.
