The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government is considering establishing a special mediator panel to help resolve commodities market disputes in concert with the International Organization for Mediation (IOMed), as part of the city’s latest efforts to foster its position as a global trading hub.

The panel — which would be part of the IOMed — aims to provide a neutral and expert-led platform for disputes arising across the commodities value chain from upstream mining to downstream delivery, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Thursday.

Established last year in Hong Kong at offices in Wan Chai, the IOMed is the world’s first intergovernmental legal organization dedicated to resolving cross-border disputes through mediation. Founding members include China, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Venezuela.

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Speaking at the London Metal Exchange Asia Metals Seminar 2026, Chan said the initiative can complement the government’s strategy to build Hong Kong into a leading gold and commodities trading hub.

“And (it) helps facilitate cross-border transactions, mitigate risks and strengthen market confidence among global market participants,” he added.

During the event, the finance chief also highlighted Hong Kong’s thriving metal trading business and its persistent strong momentum, citing that the city’s exports of non-ferrous metals jumped by nearly 35 percent last year, and by 170 percent year-on-year in the last quarter alone.  

With more metals and minerals firms establishing a presence or listing in Hong Kong, Chan pledged that the government will step up efforts to upgrade relevant infrastructure and offer incentives, including the introduction of a 50-percent profits tax concession for commodity trading activities by the end of the first half of 2026.

He also said the authorities will look to cross-listing or mutual listing of metal-related financial instruments between Hong Kong and key global markets, adding that there is “clear room” for more renminbi-linked products in the SAR for market players from both the Chinese mainland and overseas.

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Hong Kong’s bourse operator, the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), reported record annual results for the second consecutive year in 2025, with profit reaching HK$17.8 billion ($2.27 billion), up 36 percent on the previous year. Its subsidiary, the LME, saw an 8 percent yearly increase in global trading volumes, averaging 756,996 lots per trading day.  

HKEX Chief Executive Officer Bonnie Chan Yi-ting attributed the significant momentum to the “exceptional volatility in the macro environment”, saying that the phenomenon also benefited Hong Kong.

“For the longest time, global capital was highly concentrated geographically … the persistence of geopolitical uncertainty has encouraged global investors to break this pattern,” she said.

“That has brought them to Asia, where there is massive growth potential, and that has brought them to Hong Kong, the region’s most globally relevant and connected international financial center.”

As LME-approved warehouses in Hong Kong reach their capacity, she said this marks an important milestone in establishing physical metal market connectivity.

Since joining the LME’s global delivery network last year, Hong Kong has so far established 15 licensed warehouses, with more than 24,000 tons of LME metals already on warrant.

Matthew Chamberlain, LME chief executive officer, said the achievement was beyond his expectations, and it is a huge validation of the importance of Hong Kong as a metal transit point.

Chamberlain added that the metal exchange is keen to enable further expansion of Hong Kong’s metal storage network, and will continue to work with stakeholders “to see how we could really open this up and hopefully get from tens of thousands of tons to hundreds of thousands of tons (that) we know would be the natural demand here”.

Contact the writer at gabylin@chinadailyhk.com