00:06Hong Kong's finance chief has been talking up the city's investment potential on a visit to France.
00:12Paul Chan met industry representatives to discuss ways of strengthening business links.
00:16He also spoke to our correspondent Li Sun Hua.
00:19Well, you know, Europe, this time in this trip, I met many fund managers and investors, institutional investors as well.
00:32They have a huge capital flow that they can deploy.
00:39Traditionally, many of these investments have been made towards the U.S. and Europe, of course.
00:47But increasingly, they are seeking safe harbor, seeking diversification, a safe harbor, particularly during this time of geopolitical challenge.
00:59So Hong Kong become a safe haven for the funds.
01:02But we offer more than that.
01:04Apart from offering stability, we also offer opportunities because of the proximity of Hong Kong to opportunities in the mainland.
01:16Our stock market, since the second half of 2024, has been doing very well.
01:24Last year, it went up by 26%.
01:26Volume-wise, the average daily turnover went up to about $250 billion a day.
01:33This year, in the initial few months, this momentum has been sustained.
01:39You know, last year, IPO was very strong in Hong Kong.
01:43We list 119 companies, raising about $280 billion.
01:47At the moment, we have another 400 plus companies lining up for listing.
01:54And the first few months of this year, the amount raised through IPO already much, much higher than that of
02:04last year.
02:04Yeah, exactly. Speaking of that, Hong Kong had a strong year for IPOs in 2025, but mainly with listings by
02:13mainland China.
02:14So how can you keep that momentum going in 2026?
02:20On the one hand, we will sustain this effort of attracting quality mainland companies coming to Hong Kong for listing.
02:29And this is also consistent with mainland's national strategy of encouraging mainland companies to go global.
02:36So the business proposition to the mainland companies is that they can come to Hong Kong, raise the funds they
02:45need to expand overseas.
02:47And at the same time, we are a two-way platform.
02:51China is also welcoming inbound investments, welcoming business going into the mainland to promote their quality products and services.
03:03So we also, on this fund, help them a lot.
03:08In terms of our stock market, our vision is not just to be China's international financial center, but financial center,
03:20top financial center in this region.
03:22So we are working to attract more Southeast Asia companies and Middle East companies to be listed on our stock
03:30exchange.
03:31We have another hobby work.
03:31Let's work on our profile.
03:31Let's go to Google Nordic.
03:31Most of our cards design have been on their own links and that we will vote on our mission.
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