Financial Secretary Paul Chan Promotes Hong Kong-Shanghai Synergy at Lujiazui Forum

FS attends Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai (with photos/video)

The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, arrived in Shanghai this afternoon (June 17) to begin his visit to Shanghai and Nanjing. In the evening, he attended the Plenary Session of the Lujiazui Forum and delivered a speech on "Empowering High-standard Financial Opening-up through Shanghai-Hong Kong Financial Synergy".

Mr Chan said that the country has, for the first time, clearly set out in the 15th Five-Year Plan the acceleration of efforts to build a strong financial nation, providing Hong Kong and Shanghaiwith a shared mission. In the face of a complex geopolitical environment and a new round of technological revolution, international investors have growing demand for diversified asset allocation. Hong Kong and Shanghaishould give full play to their complementary strengths and work in synergy to jointly serve the country's high-level two-way opening-up.

He pointed out that Hong Kong and Shanghai connect the Mainland's enormous market on the one hand and global capital and international rules on the other, serving as important channels for international capital to allocate into Chineseassets. The mutual market access mechanisms between the two places have continued to expand and deepen. More than 70 per cent of the Mainland stocks held by foreign investors are allocated through Stock Connect, while about two-thirds of the Mainland bonds held by overseas investors are accessed through Bond Connect. This reflects international investors'trust in the institutional arrangements, settlement security and regulatory collaboration of the two places. He welcomed the announcement made today by the Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Mr Wu Qing, supporting the launch of trading of five-year Renminbi government bond futures in Hong Kong in the near future, noting that this would help improve risk management tools for the Renminbi bond market and attract more international investors to participate in the Mainland government bond market.

Mr Chan said that co-operation between the capital markets of Hong Kong and Shanghaihas continued to deepen. As of May this year, 212 Shanghai enterprises were listed in Hong Kong, with a total market capitalisation of over HK$4.3 trillion. Last year, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Shanghai Municipal People's Government signed the Action Plan for Collaborative Development of Shanghai and Hong Kong International Financial Centres. This year, Hong Kong and the Shanghai Gold Exchange established a co-operation mechanism, while Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and China Financial Futures Exchange will also sign a Memorandum of Understanding during this Forum, demonstrating that co-operation between the two places is moving from individual projects towards systematic linkage and synergistic development.

Looking ahead, he proposed two directions for co-operation. First, the two places should jointly open up full-chain fundraising and financing channels, promote more innovation and technology enterprises in pursuing two-way financing pathways, and jointly develop exchange-traded funds and index products. They should also promote co-operation in patient capital and long-term capital to support the development of emerging and future industries. Second, the two places should jointly enhance the international functions of Renminbi, enrich investment products and risk management tools, and promote the launch of more "China price" products denominated and settled in Renminbi. At the same time, Hong Kong and Shanghaican speed up efforts to promote the synergistic combination of "industries in Shanghai and offshore treasury in Hong Kong", supporting enterprises to go global in a steadier and better manner.

Mr Chan said that Hong Kong is actively taking forward its first five-year plan to align more closely with the country's 15th Five-Year Plan. Hong Kong and Shanghaihave long enjoyed complementary strengths and mutually beneficial co-operation, and there is broad room for synergistic development in the coming five years. He expressed the hope that the two places would make good use of the power of finance to create tangible value for enterprises and the public.

Others who delivered speeches in the relevant session of the Forum included the Vice Mayor of Shanghai, Mr Wu Wei; former Vice-Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and Vice-President of the China Society for Finance and Banking, Mr Fang Xinghai; the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui; the Chief Executive Officer of the Securities and Futures Commission, Ms Julia Leung; andrepresentatives of financial institutions from Hong Kong and Shanghai as well as international think tanks.

Mr Chan will continue his itinerary in Shanghai tomorrow morning (June 18) and proceed toNanjing in the afternoon.

FS attends Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

FS attends Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

FS attends Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Housing Authority's estimated PRH allocation for 2026/27 records yearly increase of over 6 000 flats with estimated number of flats to be allocated to PRH applicants reaching 10-year high

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:

The Subsidised Housing Committee (SHC) of the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) today (June 18) approved the estimated public rental housing (PRH) allocation for 2026-27 and noted the actual allocation in 2025-26.

Estimated allocation surges as public housing production heads for breakthroughs

A spokesman for the HA said that the HA's actual allocation in 2025-26 has reached a total of 28 280 flats. Under the current-term Government's unremitting efforts to "enhance speed, quantity, quality and efficiency", the PRH production forecasts in 2026-27 will significantly increase by 44 per cent (i.e. about 6 900 flats) as compared with the previous year, bringing the estimated number of PRH flats available for allocation to approximately 34 500 (including about 14 600 new flats and about 19 900 recovered flats). The overall estimates are over 15 per cent higher than the estimates in 2025-26, of which the number of new flats has increased by 66 per cent (i.e. about 5 800) in comparison with the previous year.

Among the flats available for allocation in 2026-27, 26 750 flats (i.e. 77.5 per cent) will be allocated to PRH applicants. This represents an increase of over 70 per cent as compared with the annual average of 15 700 flats for the past three years before the current-term Government assumed office. Meanwhile, the estimated number of flats to be allocated to PRH applicants has reached a 10-year high.

Sufficient flats reserved for clearance and redevelopment

As regards other categories of applicants, the HA will reserve 1 300 flats for rehousing residents affected by clearance projects planned by various departments, and residents affected by other Government's squatter clearances, emergency clearances, unauthorised rooftop structure clearances and so forth. Among them, 300 flats will be set aside for rehousing residents affected by the Urban Renewal Authority's redevelopment projects scheduled for 2026-27.

Meanwhile, the HA will also reserve 1 150 flats under the category of the HA's Estate Clearance and Major Repairs to facilitate the clearance programmes of Wah Fu Estate, Choi Hung Estate, Sai Wan Estate and Ma Tau Wai Estate.

Making every effort to cater for Compassionate Rehousing and flexibly reserve flats to meet transfer needs

In the past, the HA has long handled all demands for Compassionate Rehousing (CR) as recommended by the Social Welfare Department without setting any upper limit. The HA will reserve 300 flats for allocation under the CR category in 2026-27.

Under the category of Transfers, an estimate of 4 000 flats will be reserved for various transfer purposes in 2026-27, among which a quota of 1 300 will be used for the transfer of under-occupation households so that more large flats can be recovered for easing the pressing demand of applicants with four or more household members. Moreover, the HA will reserve around 1 000 flats for the Transfer Scheme for Improving the Living Environment. The remaining 1 700 flats will be flexibly deployed for other transfer purposes, including Special Transfer, the Harmonious Families Transfer Scheme and transfers under the Full Rent Exemption Scheme for Elderly Households.

For the category of Junior Civil Servants, the HA will continue to reserve 1 000 flats under the Civil Service Public Housing Quota Scheme in 2026-27.

Efficient use of resources for flexible allocation

The HA makes annual projections of the supply of PRH flats that can be allocated in the coming year and how such flats will be allocated to the various categories of demands. The HA will closely monitor any changes in society and maintain flexibility in the allocation of PRH flats to optimise the use of resources.

The breakdown of estimated allocations for various categories in 2026-27 is available in the Annex.

Source: AI-found images