Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng meets HSBC Group chairman Mark Tucker in Beijing, urges deeper cooperation: state media

“We welcome HSBC Group and other international financial institutions to continue to actively participate in China’s financial reform and opening-up and achieve better development in China,” Han said in the report.

The Chinese central government fully supports Hong Kong in promoting the building of an international financial centre, Han said, according to Xinhua.

Han expressed hope that HSBC will make good use of its own advantages to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with China and make new contributions to consolidating and upgrading Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre.

The Hang Seng Index slid 2.3 per cent to 14,961.18 on Monday, a psychological threshold seen during the October 2022 slump, before China abandoned its zero-Covid policy the following month.

On the mainland’s bourses, the declines were sharper. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 2.7 per cent to a level not seen since April 2020, while the all-share Shenzhen Composite Index plunged 4.5 per cent.

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Hong Kong stock market falls below 15,000 level, its lowest in 15 months

Hong Kong stock market falls below 15,000 level, its lowest in 15 months

Speaking highly of China’s economic and social-development achievements, Tucker said HSBC has “firm confidence in investing in China”, according to Xinhua.

He added that HSBC would actively participate in China’s high-quality development and opening-up, support Hong Kong’s efforts in the building of an international financial centre, and promote mutually beneficial cooperation between the UK and China to achieve more results, Xinhua reported.