The two-day 19th Asian Financial Forum (AFF), Asia's first major international financial event of 2026, opened in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Monday.
The forum, themed "Co-creating New Horizons Amid an Evolving Landscape," highlights the role of finance in empowering industries.
Co-organized by the HKSAR government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the 19th AFF has brought together over 3,600 professionals from more than 60 countries and regions around the world, with about 80 business delegations from overseas and the Chinese mainland in attendance.
The event features a special discussion session on gold trading to promote Hong Kong's development as an international gold trading hub.
"The Asian Financial Forum has been in place for nearly 20 years. I believe it has played a tremendous role in the development of Hong Kong's financial industry," said Wang Shuguang, vice-chairman of China International Capital Corporation Ltd. (CICC).
HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu stated in his opening speech that Hong Kong will continue to explore measures to deepen mutual access between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong financial markets and accelerate the development of new growth areas.
Besides, the forum has also gathered over 150 global political, business and financial leaders and experts.
It has launched the inaugural Global Business Summit, focusing on deep integration of finance and industry to foster more cooperation and to enable Hong Kong to fully leverage its unique advantages as an international financial and trade hub.
The forum, which runs through Tuesday, features multiple discussion panels, keynote speeches, thematic luncheons, and breakfast sessions, exploring global economic trends, economic forecasts, and other hot topics across finance and industry.
19th Asian Financial Forum opens in Hong Kong
The Republic of Korea (ROK) will implement the tariff agreement with the United States and calmly respond to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff hike announcement, the presidential office said Tuesday.
Presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung told a press briefing that a meeting on trade issues with the United States was held at the presidential office, or the Blue House, to assess the situation over Trump's tariff hike announcement and discuss countermeasures.
Trump said on his social media on Monday that he would increase ROK tariffs on autos, lumber, pharma, and all other reciprocal tariffs from 15 percent to 25 percent, accusing the ROK's legislature of not having enacted a bilateral trade agreement with the United States.
Kang said Seoul planned to convey its commitment to implementing the ROK-U.S. trade agreement to the U.S. side while taking a calm response, as the tariff increases only take effect following administrative procedures in the United States.
It indicated that the ROK would take a measured approach by closely analyzing Trump's true intentions and the background behind his remarks, as his social media posts do not immediately lead to tariff hikes.
The Blue House meeting was also attended via phone by Minister of Trade, Industry and Resources Kim Jung-kwan who is currently in Canada as part of Seoul's special mission for strategic economic cooperation.
Kim will visit the United States after his schedule in Canada to discuss the tariff issues with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, according to the presidential office.
Yonhap News Agency reported that under a joint fact sheet released after a ROK-U.S. summit held in Gyeongju last October, the United States agreed to lower tariffs on ROK products, including automobiles, in exchange for the ROK making 350 billion U.S. dollars in investments in the United States.
The two sides later signed a joint memorandum on Nov. 14, stipulating that tariff cuts would be applied retroactively from the first day of the month in which relevant legislation was submitted to the ROK parliament to implement the agreement.
The ROK's ruling Democratic Party submitted a special bill on U.S. investment to the National Assembly on Nov. 26, and the United States subsequently retroactively lowered tariffs on ROK automobiles to 15 percent on Dec. 4.
ROK to implement tariff agreement with U.S., calmly respond to Trump's tariff hike announcement
