Shanghai and Hong Kong, China's two major international financial hubs, can significantly empower Chinese companies in their ambition to explore global markets through coordination, said prominent industry figures attending the annual Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai on Wednesday.
Themed "Empowering High-standard Financial Opening-up through Shanghai-Hong Kong Financial Synergy," the forum's fourth plenary gathers prominent figures from both mainland and Hong Kong to share insights on this topic.
The participants exchanged views over a wide range of topics from how Shanghai and Hong Kong can further leverage their respective advantages to serve Chinese companies' global expansion, to how can the two financial markets help promote Chinese currency renminbi's internationalization via stronger connectivity.
As global investors' demand for renminbi allocation has been rising over the recent years, "Shanghai-Hong Kong synergy" can enrich investment products and risk management tools, facilitate the launch of more "China Price" products denominated and settled in renminbi, and enhance the renminbi's international investment and reserve functions, according to the participants.
"Hong Kong's focus this year is to vigorously support the development of the fixed-income and currency markets. One area is increasing primary market issuances, including government bonds. The second is developing secondary market liquidity, for which we have already drafted a blueprint. This will also contribute to the internationalization of the renminbi," said Julia Leung, CEO of the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong.
Another participant noted that as the global competitiveness of mainland companies continues to rise, the high-quality development of the real economy urgently needs to be empowered by high-end financial resources.
This is both a key focus of Hong Kong's financial services and the core value of Shanghai-Hong Kong synergy.
Hong Kong is currently deepening its professional services to better empower Chinese companies in their global expansion.
"We provide tax exemptions and optimize the tax system to attract more corporate treasury centers to set up in Hong Kong. We also sign double taxation avoidance agreements with different regions and economies, so that after mainland companies establish themselves in Hong Kong, they can not only enjoy a low tax rate here but also have tax certainty and favorable rates when dealing with or investing in other economies," said Christopher Hui, secretary for financial services and the treasury, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government.
Themed "Financial Development and Cooperation under Global Governance Initiatives: New Vision, New Challenges and New Opportunities," the two-day 2026 Lujiazui Forum, which opened on Wednesday, features eight plenary sessions in total.
Shanghai-Hong Kong financial synergy helps Chinese companies go global: attendees
