HK vows to boost presence of global institutions

Hong Kong pledged to bolster its role as a "super connector," boosting Chinese mainland enterprises' global expansion, attracting more international institutions to the city, the government's official website showed on Thursday.

The HKSAR government will actively seek to attract more international institutions to set up offices in the city, including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, said Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) John Lee Ka-chiu at the Bauhinia Culture Forum on Thursday.

A Chinese expert noted that bringing in more international financial institutions to Hong Kong will help reinforce the city's role as a bridge connecting the Chinese mainland and global capital markets, while deepening its participation in regional infrastructure financing. The move will also expand the ecosystem for yuan-denominated investment products, further consolidating Hong Kong's status as the world's largest offshore yuan center.

During the forum, Lee said that Hong Kong will soon establish an Economic and Trade Office in Kuala Lumpur to deepen trade promotion in ASEAN and neighboring countries, while expanding the office's coverage to Latin America and Central Asia.

To make full use of international opportunities and national advantages, Lee said that Hong Kong must deepen global engagement, expand its international "circle of friends" and strengthen its role as both a "super connector" and a "super value-adder," serving as a two-way platform for mainland enterprises "going global" and overseas companies "coming in."

Hong Kong should leverage its position as the world's largest offshore yuan hub and the strong industrial base of the Chinese mainland to serve as a key bridge connecting global capital with China's growth opportunities, as well as a platform supporting the high-quality international expansion of Chinese enterprises, said Hu Qimu, a deputy secretary-general of Forum 50 for Digital-Real Economies Integration.

With its institutional advantages, including no foreign exchange controls, free capital flows and a sound regulatory and legal framework, Hong Kong provides a favorable environment for cross-border investment and offers global investors convenient access to yuan-denominated assets, Hu told the Global Times on Thursday.

He added that the city will also accelerate the expansion of its aviation network by encouraging airlines to launch more routes, pursuing new civil aviation agreements and extending air service rights, with a focus on promising markets such as South America, Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East, the website said.

With the global trade order undergoing profound changes, Hong Kong's new opportunities now lie more in "going out," he said.

This transformation, Lee noted, stems from mainland enterprises no longer confining their business to a single market but actively expanding into emerging economies. In this process, Hong Kong is seizing new opportunities across services, professional sectors, and financing, forming a pattern of mutually beneficial and coordinated growth.

As of the end of September, the number of locally registered companies and non-Hong Kong companies stood at 1,519,103 and 15,614 respectively, both reaching record highs, an official said at a Legislative Council meeting on Wednesday, according to financial platform Investing.com.

Between 2023 and September 2025, InvestHK assisted more than 1,400 mainland and overseas enterprises to set up or expand their businesses in Hong Kong, generating an estimated HK$194 billion ($24.99 billion) in direct investment and creating more than 20,000 jobs, the website said, citing the official.

The shift from "bringing in" to "going out" not only calls for Hong Kong's professional, financial and legal sectors to provide more integrated and comprehensive solutions, but also tests the city's ability to coordinate resources and build a resilient collaborative ecosystem, according to Hu.

The key to success lies in how effectively Hong Kong can align its institutional strengths and professional expertise with the country's strategic priorities, working alongside mainland enterprises to explore emerging markets and jointly foster a more resilient and inclusive development landscape, Hu said.