New research from KPMG China and GS1 Hong Kong highlights three key priorities for retailers: building trust in AI, delivering market-specific strategies for the growing silver economy, and strengthening brand confidence across Hong Kong and other cities in the Greater Bay Area
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 4 November 2026 – Consumer confidence in artificial intelligence is rising across Hong Kong and other cities in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), but new research from KPMG China and GS1 Hong Kong shows that retailers will need markedly different strategies to convert that confidence into growth. While consumers in other GBA cities show greater openness to personalised experiences and Chinese Mainland brands, Hong Kong consumers place more emphasis on value for money.
AI trust gap reveals distinct retail priorities: Divergent paths to consumer growth in Hong Kong and the GBA
The Growth Reimagined: Building Consumer Trust in the AI Era report identifies three themes which have emerged as a roadmap for future growth:
- Trusted AI builds consumer confidence: AI can enhance personalisation and speed up service delivery, but privacy, accuracy, transparency and a human touch will determine consumer adoption.
- Silver shoppers diverge by market: To capture the growing silver economy, brands must prioritise price in Hong Kong, and brand reputation and engaging experiences in other GBA cities.
- The low-cost-only label no longer fits Chinese Mainland brands: Their advances in quality and innovation are forcing competitors to rethink where future brand advantage will come from.
AI trust is rising but a transparency gap persists, creating new opportunities for growth
Trust in AI has risen significantly since last year's survey. In Hong Kong, 48% of consumers now trust AI at least somewhat, up from 28%, while trust in other GBA cities has increased from 59% to 76%. Yet growing trust has not translated into the same willingness to share personal data: just 10% of Hong Kong consumers who trust AI are comfortable doing so, compared with 32% in other GBA cities.
The difference in AI trust between Hong Kong and other GBA cities is particularly pronounced among silver shoppers, defined in the report as consumers aged above 55. Just 38% of Hong Kong silver shoppers trust AI, compared with 76% in other GBA cities, underscoring the challenge retailers face in building AI confidence among older Hong Kong consumers.
To bridge this gap, retailers in Hong Kong need to demonstrate clear value before asking consumers to share more data, while providing transparency and control over how their data is used. Consumer confidence should extend across the entire retail journey: from payment and product authenticity to returns and customer support. AI should help consumers find what they need more easily, while maintaining accuracy, fairness and access to human support.
AI trust gap reveals distinct retail priorities: Divergent paths to consumer growth in Hong Kong and the GBA
Anna Lin, Chief Executive, GS1 Hong Kong, says: "AI is increasingly shaping how consumers discover and evaluate products, and it tends to recommend those backed by data it can readily interpret and trust. Businesses with trusted, standardised product data that is structured for machines to understand and use and traceable to an identifiable source will be best positioned to earn consumer confidence and influence future purchasing decisions."
The silver economy is not a single consumer market
Across all age groups, value remains a priority for 73% of Hong Kong consumers, compared with 45% in other GBA cities.
When asked to describe their shopping style, 57% of silver shoppers in Hong Kong identify primarily as value shoppers, compared with only 23% in other GBA cities, where brand reputation, at 37%, and shopping experience, at 27%, emerge as their leading considerations.
The findings suggest that age alone is not enough to define the silver shoppers. Retailers looking to capture the opportunities created by the region's ageing population will need to understand how expectations differ by market, and develop propositions that reflect those differences.
Alice Yip, Partner, Head of Consumer & Retail, Hong Kong SAR, KPMG China, says: "Growth in the silver economy depends on recognising that shoppers' priorities differ across markets. Hong Kong's silver shoppers prioritise competitive prices, while those in other GBA cities place greater emphasis on brand reputation and shopping experiences. Capturing this opportunity involves understanding what matters locally and tailoring the retail offer accordingly, rather than treating the silver economy as one uniform market."
Chinese Mainland speed raises the stakes for Hong Kong and global brands
Chinese Mainland brands are emerging as a stronger force in innovation and speed. In other GBA cities, that progress is already reflected in consumer perceptions: 64% choose them for value for money, 58% for safety and reliability and 50% for brand reputation.
In Hong Kong, however, they are still seen primarily through the lens of value. While 81% of consumers choose Chinese Mainland brands for value for money, fewer cite safety and reliability (39%), higher quality (33%) or brand reputation (31%). Their next opportunity is to turn Chinese Mainland speed and improving quality into stronger brand confidence.
Hong Kong brands retain a clear advantage in trust. Consumers in Hong Kong (74%) and other GBA cities (61%) cite safety and reliability as the leading reason for choosing Hong Kong brands. Among Hong Kong consumers, preference for Hong Kong brands is particularly strong in airlines (78%) and food and beverages (71%).
But trust cannot be taken for granted. As Chinese Mainland brands strengthen their safety and reliability credentials, Hong Kong brands will need to combine their reputation for reliability with greater innovation, sharper value and faster execution.
Anson Bailey, Head of Consumer & Retail, Asia Pacific, KPMG China, says: "Any brand that still sees Chinese Mainland competitors as a low-cost threat is looking in the rear-view mirror. Chinese Mainland speed is now producing better products, sharper design and faster innovation at a scale few markets can match. The real shift is that Chinese Mainland brands are learning to build brand equity at the same pace as they have built scale through value and speed. This is increasingly influencing who can win – not only in the GBA, but in consumer markets worldwide."
Hashtag: #KPMG #GS1HongKong
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About KPMG
KPMG in China has offices located in 31 cities with over 14,000 partners and staff, in Beijing, Changchun, Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Dalian, Dongguan, Foshan, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Hangzhou, Hefei, Jinan, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Taiyuan, Tianjin, Wuhan, Wuxi, Xiamen, Xi'an, Zhengzhou, Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR. It started operations in Hong Kong in 1945. In 1992, KPMG became the first international accounting network to be granted a joint venture licence in the Chinese Mainland. In 2012, KPMG became the first among the "Big Four" in the Chinese Mainland to convert from a joint venture to a special general partnership.
KPMG is a global organisation of independent professional services firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. KPMG is the brand under which the member firms of KPMG International Limited ("KPMG International") operate and provide professional services. "KPMG" is used to refer to individual member firms within the KPMG organisation or to one or more member firms collectively.
KPMG firms operate in 138 countries and territories with more than 276,000 partners and employees working in member firms around the world. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. Each KPMG member firm is responsible for its own obligations and liabilities.
About GS1 Hong Kong
GS1 Hong Kong is the local chapter of GS1®, a global, not-for-profit data standards organisation represented in over 120 countries. Through globally recognised standards such as GTIN (barcodes), we enable businesses to identify, capture and share trusted data across physical and digital supply chains, helping them accelerate digital transformation, access global markets, strengthen supply chain resilience and efficiency, and advance transparency, safety and sustainability.
Building on global data standards, GS1 Hong Kong provides solutions including ezTRADE for B2B data exchange, ezTRACK for supply chain traceability, and 1QR, powered by GS1 Digital Link, connecting 2D barcodes to rich product information such as certifications and sustainability data.
The trusted data infrastructure also supports emerging business needs, from trade finance to Scope 3 emissions reporting and ESG compliance. In an AI-driven economy, we provide the foundation for high-quality data that is accurate, visible, linkable, searchable, shareable and traceable.
GS1 Hong Kong supports close to 8,000 corporate members across 20 sectors, including retail and consumer goods, food and beverage, healthcare, apparel and footwear, logistics and ICT.
Website: www.gs1hk.org
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Group signs seven strategic Memoranda of Understanding with partners from the United States, Greater China, Malaysia and the Maldives, as the Hong Kong hub prepares the ground for a sister hub in the Maldives
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 4 November 2026 – AEI Capital Group, an international alternative investment and asset management group, celebrated the grand opening of its expanded new Hong Kong headquarters office located at the China Resources Building. As the Group now expands its Hong Kong operations through the launch of this new Hong Kong headquarters, its international offshore affiliates manage aggregate alternative assets exceeding USD 7 billion as of December 2025. Located within the Hong Kong CBD with an exceptional Victoria Harbour view, the expanded office is directly annexed to the St. Regis Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, which will significantly lubricate AEI Capital Group's strategic initiatives to organise global or regional events in Hong Kong via its expanded Hong Kong headquarters office. To ensure seamless operational continuity, the Group's respective licensed associated entities will maintain their existing office premises until further official notification is submitted to their respective regulators.
Group signs seven strategic Memoranda of Understanding with partners from the United States, Greater China, Malaysia and the Maldives, as the Hong Kong hub prepares the ground for a sister hub in the Maldives
Being dual-headquartered in Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, emboldened by its other satellite offices in Singapore, London, Washington DC and Chengdu for global market coverage, AEI Capital Group is aspired to ride on Hong Kong's recently crowned status as the No.1 global wealth centre (surpassing Switzerland lately) to develop its onshore Global Asset & Wealth Hub in Hong Kong. This newly launched Hub operates exclusively as a strategic platform dedicated to international enterprise matchmaking, cross-border commercial networking, and global corporate facilitation, to be complemented by AEI's upcoming launch of its offshore Global Asset & Wealth Hub in Maldives, the world-renowned top luxurious travel destination recently emerged to grow its own offshore financial centre.
AEI Capital Group's official launch ceremony of its Hong Kong new headquarters office was witnessed by a long list of spectacular special guests, such as Mr Abdulla Jihad, the former Vice President and Finance Minister of Maldives Republic; Dato Iskandar Mohd Nuli, the President and CEO of Maldives International Financial Centre; Dato Hafizi Bin Abdul Mutolif, the Deputy Chairman of Malaysian Armed Forces Co-operative, a sovereign wealth entity associated with Malaysian armed forces; Shaikh Humaid Abdulla Ali Abdulla Almualla, a UAE royal family member who is one of the anchor partners for AEI's royal & billionaire-focused multi-family office; Datuk Wira Dr Lim Zhao Qi (Ken), the Chairman of Labuan Investment Banks Association & CEO of European Credit Investment Bank; Victor Deng, the President of Sensegain Asset Management, a Beijing-headquartered prominent investment firm; Hongtao Duan (段宏涛), the Chief Executive of Hoping China, a China quality-brand development organisation mandated by the China government for the overseas growth of China nationwide quality-brands; Warren Baker, Managing Partner of LDA Capital, a prominent global emerging markets investment firm based in Los Angeles and Madrid, and some key senior officials from Invest HK in family office and global financial services segments to support AEI's aspiration to grow its Hong Kong global headquarters.
Seven strategic collaboration MoUs
The signing ceremony of a series of strategic collaboration MoUs between AEI Capital Group and its global strategic partners was organised on the same day too at the Runnovation Event Hall, a premier international innovation and exchange platform under China Resources Group in Hong Kong, subsequent to the grand launch ceremony of the AEI Global Asset & Wealth Hub in the afternoon.
AEI has entered into the following strategic collaboration MoUs with its respective global institutional partners of regional market importance:
- MoU with Regal Prestige Multi Family Office (under AEI Capital Group) and FYSEN Group of Companies (Maldives) - for strategic investment and development in various industries in the Maldives, including the financial sector
- MoU with Regal Prestige Multi Family Office (under AEI Capital Group) and Malaysian Armed Forces Co-operative (the sovereign wealth entity associated with Malaysian Armed Forces) - for capitalisation and strategic investment for various assets held by the co-operative
- MoU with LDA Capital Group LLC, a leading emerging markets equity investment group - for collaboration on growth equity deal opportunities across Asia and Europe
- MoU with Hoping China Development Promotion Centre (好品中国发展促进中心) - for strategic collaboration to support the capitalisation and growth of its global halal commerce platform
- MoU with Hoping International Financial Group Co., Limited (好品国际金融集团有限公司) - for collaboration on growth equity deal opportunities
- MoU with Labuan Investment Banks Association - for strategic collaboration in the asset and wealth space
- MoU with Sensegain Asset Management Group Co., Ltd. - for collaboration on growth equity deal opportunities
Why Hong Kong, and why now
There is a widely repeated claim that capital has grown scarce. It has not. Capital is abundant, arguably more so than at any point in a generation, but it has been concentrated in the western world rather than in Asia, the largest growth engine in the world. The scarcity is not of capital; it is of capital willing to cross the distance to where the growth actually is. Hong Kong sits at that crossing.
"Hong Kong is where Asia's growth meets the world's capital, and that is exactly the bridge we exist to build," said John Tan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AEI Capital Group. "The innovation and the growth are here. What is missing is the pricing and the liquidity. We exist to close that gap, one company at a time."
A two-way bridge
The AEI Global Asset & Wealth Hub is a corporate and strategic platform that brings the group's partners together for cross-border collaboration and network-building between Asia, the Gulf, Europe and the United States. The Hong Kong hub is the first; a sister hub in the Maldives is in preparation.
The group sees the partnerships as a bridge that runs in both directions. Asian companies with real fundamentals but depressed valuation and liquidity can be strategically supported and, where it serves them, carried outward toward deeper pools of capital. In the other direction, US and European investors and companies seeking Asian exposure gain a strategic partner whose home advantage is the very market they are trying to enter. Asia-out and world-in are, in the group's view, the same competence seen from two sides.
IMPORTANT COMPLIANCE NOTICE & DISCLAIMER:
To ensure the highest standards of regulatory compliance, this Hub does not engage in, and is completely separated from, any regulated financial services or asset management activities within Hong Kong. All regulated financial services within the region are, or will in the future be, conducted strictly and exclusively by the Group's associated licensed entities registered with and supervised by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong holding Type 4 (Advising on Securities) and Type 9 (Asset Management) licenses, as well as its relevant registered trust companies and other associated licensed or regulated entities in Hong Kong, which maintain entirely separate corporate governance, designated physical operating areas, and absolute informational barriers (Chinese Walls). While the Group expands its Hong Kong operations through the newly launched headquarters, its respective licensed associated entities in Hong Kong shall maintain their existing office premises until relevant statutory notifications are officially served to their respective regulators.
To ensure absolute compliance with the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) of Hong Kong, all strategic collaboration Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) referenced in this press release—including all related activities concerning growth equity deal opportunities, investment, and capitalisation—are entered into, managed solely by, and executed exclusively through independent offshore affiliates of the Group operating entirely outside of Hong Kong.
These offshore entities are properly licensed, registered, or authorised outside Hong Kong for their relevant activities in their respective jurisdictions; however, they do not hold any regulated licenses under the SFO, do not conduct any regulated activities within Hong Kong, and do not engage in the active marketing of any investment, asset management, or financial products to the public in Hong Kong.
This press release is issued for information only. It does not constitute an offer, invitation or solicitation to invest in, or an advertisement for, any financial product, security or regulated service, and is not directed at any person in any jurisdiction where such an offer would be unlawful.
Hashtag: #AEICapitalGroup #CorporateExpansion #HongKongBusiness #StrategicPartnerships #CrossBorderBusiness
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
AEI Capital Group
Founded in 2011 and dual-headquartered in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, AEI Capital Group is a leading international alternative investment and asset management group operating across Southeast Asia and Greater China, with its subsidiaries and associated licensed entities maintaining an active operational presence in Hong Kong. The Group's international offshore affiliates manage aggregate alternative assets exceeding USD 7 billion as of December 2025. Its discipline is growth equity: not venture capital, not private equity, but the intersection of the two.
That track record has been recognised over the years. Wealth & Finance International named AEI Capital Group Best Investment Firm – East Asia from 2021 to 2023. In 2025, CEO Insights Asia placed John Tan, the group's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, among the Top 10 CEOs in Banking, Financial Services and Investment in Malaysia, alongside the chief executives of other leading Malaysian banks.
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