Vice-Premier He Lifeng vows support for Hong Kong as international financial centre

Beijing says it will introduce extra measures, as needed, to bolster Hong Kong as an international financial centre, with Vice-Premier He Lifeng pledging continued support in a speech on Tuesday.

Delivering a keynote speech at the opening of the 2026 Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit in Hong Kong via video link, He said finance was the most important leg of the city’s “four centres and one highland” agenda and stressed that using the advantages of the “one country, two systems” constitutional principle was key to their development.

The vice-premier described “one country” as the “seed capital” and “two systems” as “the profit”, and said that, as any investor knew, seed capital needed to be protected before risks were taken to maximise returns.

Under a “four centres, one hub” strategy incorporated in Hong Kong’s first five-year plan in September, the special administrative region government committed to strengthening the city’s standing as an international centre for the financial, maritime and aviation, trade, and innovation and technology sectors, as well as a talent hub.

He said building an international financial centre topped the agenda for Hong Kong, because the finance sector “plays an irreplaceable role in Hong Kong’s high-quality development and represents shared expectations of the central government and all sectors in Hong Kong”.

The vice-premier also told the global executives attending the summit that China’s financial markets remained sound and resilient.

Chinese authorities have launched a renewed push to stabilise the country’s struggling stock markets, with a raft of measures announced on Monday.

He put forward four suggestions for supporting and safeguarding Hong Kong’s long-term prosperity and stability.

“Hong Kong should further consolidate financial development and enhance its status as an international financial centre,” he said. “The city should expand the scope of financial services, pursue innovation in commodities, fintech and green finance.”

He called for deeper integration of finance with scientific and technological innovation, trade and shipping, green development and intellectual property protection, progress on the Northern Metropolis, cultivation of emerging industries and forward planning for future industries.

His remarks came as the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and InvestHK, the Hong Kong government’s investment promotion arm, co-host Hong Kong Fintech Week 2026, which kicked off on Monday.

The HKMA has unveiled four new fintech initiatives this week, with the first focused on maturing agentic artificial intelligence, which it said had the potential to reshape financial service delivery. It said the second dealt with quantum computing, which could eventually compromise widely used encryption that protects customer data and transactions.

Another measure seeks faster 24/7 settlement for tokenised transactions under Project Ensemble, enabling round-the-clock real-value transactions. The final initiative expands cross-border payment connectivity, with Hong Kong’s Faster Payment System to link up with UnionPay International by the end of the year.

The vice-premier said Beijing would continue to support mainland China and Hong Kong financial institutions and stakeholders to enhance experience sharing and exchange mechanisms for better, high-quality economic and social development.

He underscored the need for Hong Kong to solidly implement its five-year plan and better integrate with and serve the country’s overall development.

“We view Hong Kong’s implementation of its five-year plan with utmost confidence and high expectations,” He said, adding that Beijing would continue to fully support Hong Kong in preserving its unique status and strength, building a more competitive, free and open economic environment, and creating broader room for future development.

This year’s summit, being hosted by the HKMA, has the theme “rethinking the playbook”. It has attracted some 280 global financial leaders, including 120 top-level executives, and will wrap up on Wednesday.