The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said it will expand its use-case scenarios and enhance secondary market liquidity to promote sustainable market development in digital assets such as cryptocurrencies and tokenized financial assets, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu said at the 2026 Global Prosperity Summit.

Organized by Hong Kong think-tank the Savantas Policy Institute, the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS) and the European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, the second day of the summit on Wednesday focused on prominent issues such as digital assets and aerospace development in Hong Kong, as well as international trade in a changing world order.

On the panel discussing digital asset development in Hong Kong, Hui said there will be increasing convergence between conventional financial assets and crypto assets because of increased market awareness and more use cases.

“For the crypto market to grow sustainably, we have to promote more new market opportunities when more use cases are applicable. We also need to have a deep liquid secondary market so that this market can continue to grow,” Hui said.

Hong Kong is striving to develop its gold market with both traditional gold exchange-traded funds tradable on conventional markets and tokenized units of certain classes of such ETFs available on blockchain.

“For the crypto market to grow sustainably and as a market builder, we have to give this market more opportunities. I think gold trading could be a potential bridge between conventional and new finance,” he added.

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The financial services chief said the Companies Registry will issue guidelines on the interpretation of the Companies Ordinance to make sure that the legislation is compatible with digital ownership.

The government is also attempting to regularize its tokenized bond issuance program to ensure there is a constant supply of digital assets, and the government is partnering with Cyberport to sponsor blockchain applications for real world asset tokenization to cultivate more use cases, Hui said.

Regarding the approach of setting up a dedicated regulator for the digital space, Hui said: “We foresee the convergence of traditional conventional financial assets and blockchain crypto technology will happen. If you have a separate regulator, it is very detached from the daily regulation of the conventional markets and it is also difficult to get synergy. “

As an example, Hui said that the government gives stamp duty exemption to ETFs traded on the conventional stock exchange markets as well as on blockchain to facilitate convergence and promote market innovation.

Discussing how a space economy can be developed in Hong Kong, Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, chairperson of the Savantas Policy Institute and convenor of the non-official members of the Hong Kong SAR Executive Council, said “there is an urgency to set up a space office so that Hong Kong can play a role in the burgeoning space economy.”

She added that Hong Kong can provide downstream services such as financial, legal and data analysis to support aerospace companies and provide new careers and new jobs for young people.

“I would like to see some strategic planning and direction in the space front so that it can help guide and coordinate the development of space and technology in Hong Kong,” said Gao Yang, director of the Centre for AI Robotics in Space Sustainability at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

“We do need to have strong leadership to tell the industry where we are going, where we should be developing, and where we should be focusing. It is a very large industry, so we need to execute the policy effectively with speed and commitment,” Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co CEO Roger Tong added.

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In the session discussing international trade, all panelists said Hong Kong plays a pivotal role in global trade and investment flows.

“If Hong Kong is leveraging on ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), it will invariably generate multiplier effects that would benefit both Hong Kong and ASEAN, and in turn would strengthen relations between ASEAN and the Chinese mainland,” said Mohd Abdullah, executive chairman of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia.

Mark Andrijanic, board member of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, said Hong Kong can teach Europeans how to regulate their financial assets in a more progressive way; at the same time, Hong Kong can experiment with European-inspired progressive and forward-looking regulation on artificial intelligence.

“With its soft capacities in finance, insurance and law, Hong Kong is an economic bridge that can help mainland businesses go global. At the same time, it is also an important cultural bridge that can decrease misunderstandings between the Chinese mainland and the rest of the world,” Li Kaisheng, vice-president of SIIS, said.

US-China Business Council President Sean Stein said he expects Hong Kong to continue to expand its influence and play an even greater role in global commerce, global trade flows and flows of ideas.