Financial regulators and professional organizations in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region lauded the city’s inaugural Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development (2026-30) and its 2026 Policy Address, saying they will guide Hong Kong to proactively align with national development strategies by consolidating and enhancing its status as an international financial center.

During the delivery of the two documents on Wednesday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said the city aims to strengthen its role as a global offshore financial hub in three key areas — renminbi business, asset and wealth management, and risk management activities.

He said the government will take the lead in actively exploring and promoting the use of RMB to settle government expenditures under suitable scenarios. This will further enhance the offshore RMB market’s capacity to support the real economy, enabling the growth of trade, investment, financing and cross-border business dealings.

A source from the SAR government said that excluding principal and interest payments on government-issued RMB bonds, the government currently spends 20 million yuan ($2.98 million) on average per month on various recurrent expenditure items. Moving forward, the administration will encourage different departments to use RMB, based on the willingness of suppliers and actual application scenarios, the source added.

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Carlson Tong Ka-shing, chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, said, “The bourse operator will deepen connectivity with the Chinese mainland and international markets, and bolster the city’s position as a premier gateway for capital, opportunities and ideas between the mainland and the world.”

Kelvin Wong Tin-yau, chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission, said the commission will support the implementation of the key initiatives outlined in the blueprint, as well as “enhancing the depth, breadth and competitiveness of Hong Kong’s capital markets”.

Other planned measures include increasing liquidity, expanding product offerings, supporting the inclusion of RMB counters under Southbound Stock Connect trading, and promoting the city’s offshore RMB services to overseas markets.

“We are seeing a new phase of RMB internationalization in Hong Kong, as a larger pool of offshore RMB liquidity is supporting more frequent (dim sum bond) issuance and a more active secondary market, where investors can trade, finance and manage RMB assets rather than simply hold them to maturity. Developments in tokenization, digital settlement and other market infrastructure are happening alongside this,” said Angela Chan, a partner at Clifford Chance based in Hong Kong.

The policy documents also addressed Hong Kong’s development in international asset and wealth management, risk management activities, the commodity trading ecosystem, “Finance+” empowerment, as well as financial risk prevention.

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Stephen Yiu Kin-wah, chairman of the Insurance Authority, said the insurance industry regulator will implement measures such as deepening regulatory collaboration, crafting specialized risk management tools, and enhancing the Risk-Based Capital Regime, thereby supporting the establishment of “four centers and one hub” and bolstering the competitive edge of Hong Kong as an international financial center.

“The further deepening of offshore RMB business, including RMB counters under the Southbound Stock Connect, and the build-out of a strategic commodity hub, underpinned by robust measures for gold trading development, also advances our recommendations and reinforces Hong Kong’s role in global capital flows,” said the Financial Services Development Council.

The council’s chairman, Benjamin Hung Pi-cheng, said that the Finance+ strategy plays a pivotal role in unlocking new opportunities for talent development. “The council will collaborate closely with industry partners to empower our younger generation and reinforce Hong Kong’s role as an indispensable global capital nexus,” he added.

On Wednesday, the Global Financial Centres Index 40 Report ranked Hong Kong as the world’s third and the Asia-Pacific’s first financial center, according to United Kingdom-based Z/Yen and the Shenzhen-based China Development Institute.

Contact the writers at oswald@chinadailyhk.com