Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Sunday that he expects solid growth in April retail sales, which will be released on Tuesday, marking 12 consecutive months of growth and reflecting stable recovery momentum in Hong Kong’s retail sector.
In Chan's blog, he noted that Hong Kong surpassed Switzerland as the top global cross-border wealth management centre in Boston Consulting Group's latest report, which he described as a "vote of confidence" in Hong Kong's institutional framework and investing environment from both domestic and overseas capital.
Under the "one country, two systems" framework, Hong Kong boasts advantages such as the common law system, free capital flow, freely convertible currency, a simple, low-tax regime, and a regulatory framework aligned with international standards, which attract continued capital inflows, he said.
Amid geopolitical uncertainties and the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, global assets are undergoing a relocation of unprecedented scale, Chan said, adding that capturing and leveraging this capital flow is one of the key issues for Hong Kong's development.
The city's asset and wealth management business has exceeded HK$35 trillion, and 54 percent of which was sourced from investors outside mainland China and Hong Kong, Chan said, citing the asset and wealth management activities survey published by the Securities and Futures Commission.
He also pointed out that assets under management doubled between 2015 and 2024, while the population of licensed asset managers nearly doubled, exceeding 2,200 during the 10 years.
