Hong Kong stocks close 2.79 pct higher

Hong Kong's stock market ended higher Tuesday with the benchmark Hang Seng Index up 2.79 percent to close at 25,063.71 points.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 2.31 percent to end at 8,499.53 points, while the Hang Seng Tech Index was up 2.51 percent to end at 4,830.89 points.

Leading executives from global multinationals who attended the just-concluded China Development Forum (CDF) in Beijing say they are keen to deepen engagement with China and explore further market opportunities in the world's second-largest economy, which they view as being at the forefront of innovation.

Themed "China in its 15th Five-Year Plan Period: Advancing High-Quality Development and Creating New Opportunities Together," the two-day forum, which concluded on Monday, brought together senior global business representatives and scholars to explore shared opportunities emerging from China's pursuit of high-quality growth.

The forum also detailed the vision and direction of China's 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), a key blueprint outlining the country's socioeconomic development goals through to the end of the decade.

Against a backdrop of global economic turbulence and rising geopolitical tensions, global executives are encouraged by China's commitment to opening-up and believe its stable growth offers a strong platform for investment and cooperation.

Many global firms say they are ready to expand their presence in China's vast market, including German multinational Siemens AG which is choosing to launch a range of new products in China and is even hosting a special gathering in Beijing with its "Siemens RXD (Real Meets Digital) Summit" -- which wraps up on Tuesday after bringing together over 1,000 industry leaders, AI innovators and tech experts for the two-day event.

"We are having our first prime Tech Summit, it's a series of summits and we are launching it in China. It's because it happens first in China -- when we bring innovation to the market, it happens first in China. Big names [will be involved in the summit] so these are really super interesting guests and we [will] bring 26 new products to the market," said Roland Busch, President and CEO of Siemens AG.

French tech firm Schneider Electric is also looking to enhance cooperation, with new facilities breaking ground in the coastal city of Xiamen and in east China's Wuxi, alongside other development projects.

"At the moment we are creating two new factories, one in Xiamen, one in Wuxi. We are ramping up a new research and development center for energy management, energy excellence, energy efficiency, energy digitization in Beijing. Even more important, we are creating new partnerships with Chinese companies to bring the technologies of those companies into the overseas market where Schneider is already well-rooted," said Jean-Pascal Tricoire, the company's chairman.

Since its inception in 2000, the China Development Forum has become one of the country's major platforms for dialog among Chinese government officials, global business leaders, international organizations, and scholars.

Longtime attendees, guided by a belief in long-term investment, have returned with fresh projects and renewed confidence, while newcomers at the event are eager to tap into emerging sectors and evolving market dynamics.

This year saw the heads of 18 multinational corporations joining the event for the first time. Coming from various industries, they revealed plans to not only invest in China but also cooperate more closely with Chinese enterprises to further expand their market share.

"This is actually my first time to be at the CDF in person. There is one topic I'm really very interested in and I think there's a big opportunity and this is around data and AI. We have established an accelerator where we invite domestic startup companies to work together with us on new innovative ideas," said Christoph Franz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Roche Group, a Swiss healthcare multinational.

"So we are actually opening next week our south China headquarters, which helps us to do a couple things. One, get closer to our customer; second, innovate more and really leverage the fantastic ecosystem that exists in Shenzhen, be closer to technology provider in AI, in robotics and stuff like this. And also have better logistics to better serve our customer," said Henrik Ehrnrooth, President and CEO of the KONE Corporation, a Finnish engineering firm.