With its advantages under "one country, two systems", Hong Kong is an ideal destination for asset diversification for French investors seeking both capital security and investment returns, the special administrative region’s finance chief said on Monday.
Paul Chan Mo-po especially pointed out the city’s key advantages, including free flow of capital and talent, a vibrant financial ecosystem, and capital markets connected to the Chinese mainland and the world.
“It is an opportune time for French financial institutions to leverage Hong Kong's advantages to expand their asset and wealth management businesses in Asia,” he added while visiting the French Asset Management Association and meeting a number of representatives from the industry.
Chan also stressed at Monday’s meeting that the asset management industry in Hong Kong has reached nearly 3.9 trillion euros ($4.5 trillion) in scale, and there are now over 3,300 family offices, most of which manage assets exceeding $50 million, demonstrating a thriving asset and wealth management ecosystem, according to a government statement.
With a relatively affluent population of 87 million and a gross domestic product of over 1.7 trillion euros, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area generates substantive demand for offshore asset allocation, he added.
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The French Asset Management Association is a major professional association representing the French asset management industry, with about 400 members, including about 330 asset management companies. Together, they manage about 90 percent of the assets of the French asset management industry, with a total scale of 5 trillion euros.
Upon his arrival in Paris on Monday to begin his visit to Europe, the financial secretary called on Chinese Ambassador to France Deng Li to exchange views on China-France and China-Europe relations, as well as the latest developments in the SAR.
He also visited the Asia Centre Paris think tank, which focuses on the study of geopolitical strategy, international relations and governance, and economic and social development dynamics. There, he shared the latest economic and social situation of Hong Kong and the directions and priority areas for its future development.
Chan exchanged views with the board members on the international economic and trade landscape and China's development.
In recent years, Hong Kong has been actively nurturing the innovation and technology industry, making dedicated efforts to attract enterprises and talent, and promoting the development of emerging industries such as artificial intelligence and biomedicine, he said, adding that the vast Greater Bay Area market and the development of emerging and future industries will create broader application scenarios and development space for European products and enterprises.
Under the country's dual circulation strategy, more mainland enterprises will set up factories and expand their businesses in Southeast Asia and Europe through the SAR, he added.
The finance chief welcomed more multifaceted exchanges between Asia Centre Paris and Hong Kong, including organizing delegations to visit the city, to enhance in-depth mutual understanding between the two places and facilitate the financial and business sectors of both sides in exploring more opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation.
