All along, Hong Kong continues to strengthen its role as an international financial centre. We provide a free, open, efficient, safe and global business environment, closely connected with markets worldwide. Recent comments in the media have sought to downplay Hong Kong’s prospects, ignoring our city’s extraordinary resilience and vitality and turning a blind eye to the remarkable opportunities that are emerging one after another. Hong Kong must and will continue to move forward, proving our critics wrong and correcting misinformation peddled by the naysayers.
As an international financial centre under “one country, two systems,” Hong Kong enjoys the full support of our country while being closely linked to the rest of the world. This unique advantage provides the foundation for our distinctive role as a “super connector” and “super value‑adder”. Hong Kong has a highly open and international market with a trusted common law system, regulatory standards aligned with global markets, free flow of information and capital, and a simple and low‑tax regime. These are the core values most prized by global investors, making Hong Kong the ideal place for companies to expand their business.
Facts speak louder than words. Hong Kong’s economy has rebounded strongly — from a contraction of 3.7% when the current administration took office in 2022, to growth of 3.6% last year, and a 5.9% surge in the first quarter of this year, the strongest in five years. External trade has also risen sharply, with exports and imports of goods in June 2026 up 53.4% and 45.4% year-on‑year respectively. Exports to most major markets continue to climb.
Hong Kong is the only economy in the world that combines unwavering support of the Chinese Mainland with deep connectivity to global markets. This has attracted companies worldwide to list here. In the first half of this year, 87 IPOs raised $210.2 billion, nearly double that of the same period last year. By end‑June, more than 500 applications were pending. Asset and wealth management is strong, with Hong Kong-domiciled authorised funds recorded net inflows of $357 billion last year. The family office ecosystem is thriving. As of the end of last year, the number of single family offices in Hong Kong exceeded 3,380, representing growth of more than 25% over the past two years. According to the 2026 Global Wealth Report, Hong Kong is now the world’s largest cross-boundary wealth management centre.
International recognition of Hong Kong’s strengths is getting stronger. The latest Global Financial Centres Index continued to rank Hong Kong third worldwide, with a higher score than last time. We continue to rank as the world's freest economy, while our global competitiveness ranking has climbed to second and talent competitiveness has jumped to fourth.
The Government has actively pursued a “Bringing in and Going Global” strategy, attracting quality enterprises to set up or expand in Hong Kong. By 2025, the number of Mainland and overseas companies operating in Hong Kong reached 11,070, while local start‑ups increased to 5,221 — both record highs. The Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES) has successfully attracted more than 120 strategic enterprises to date. Collectively, these companies are projected to bring approximately $73 billion in investment and create about 25 000 job opportunities in high-end research and development and management positions over the coming years.
Some critics appear driven more by bias against China than by objective analysis. Their criticisms are neither based on evidence nor facts. Investors and talents, on the other hand, are confidently drawn to Hong Kong by our global connectivity and international characteristics.
While Hong Kong’s performance is impressive, we cannot afford to stand still or become complacent. We will continue to unite all sectors of society and press ahead with building the "Four Centres and One Highland", namely the international financial, shipping, trade, and innovation and technology centres, as well as the highland of international top-tier talent. In finance, we will keep improving market efficiency, expand the use of offshore renminbi and Chinese Mainland government bonds, and develop fintech, digital assets, and green and sustainable finance.
This year marks the beginning of the National 15th Five-Year Plan. In our rapidly evolving world, Hong Kong will respond to the current complex and ever-changing global political and economic landscape with an innovative mindset. We will work at full speed to finalise the first five-year plan for Hong Kong, proactively integrating into and serving the overall national development, fostering new quality productive forces in accordance with local conditions and accelerate high-quality economic and financial development.
Michael Wong
Acting Financial Secretary
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
