Christopher Hui in New York to promote Hong Kong’s superconnector role in meetings with likes of Michael Bloomberg, Fed CEO

The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury will meet Michael Bloomberg, founder of financial media company Bloomberg and former New York City mayor, on Tuesday. He will also address local business and financial leaders.

Hui will also join a round-table discussion on Tuesday regarding Hong Kong’s fintech developments, speak at a lunch co-hosted by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, New York, and the Asia Society, and meet leaders of financial institutions.

“We are a leading international asset and wealth-management hub in Asia, managing close to US$4 trillion in assets at the end of 2022, with two-thirds sourced from non-Hong Kong investors,” Hui said in an address overnight on Monday to the city’s Hong Kong community.

Hong Kong remains a magnet for global business, investment and talent, he said. The city is home to more than 12,500 ultra-high-net-worth individuals – surpassing any other city globally – as well as 2,700 single-family offices, he added.

Hui began his trip by meeting Paul Gruenwald, the global chief economist at S&P Global Ratings, on Monday. During the meeting, Hui elaborated on the measures that Hong Kong has taken to maintain its robust financial system and fiscal condition.

Hui also met John Williams, the president and CEO of the New York Federal Reserve, to discuss global economic trends and interest rates. In a later conversation with Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on United States-China Relations, Hui highlighted the superconnector and “super value-adder” role that Hong Kong plays in furthering China’s development.

In his address to New York’s Hong Kong community, the treasury chief also pointed to signs suggesting that Hong Kong’s economy is recovering. For example, the city’s real gross domestic product expanded by 3.2 per cent in 2023, and is expected to grow by another 2.5 to 3.5 per cent in real terms for the full year of 2024. Hong Kong’s air passenger traffic has also rebounded, to 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

Over the past year, Hong Kong recorded 9,000 companies in the city with parent firms beyond its borders, marking a recovery to pre-pandemic levels, Hui said. The city also managed to attract more than 50 “strategic, high-powered” companies from around the world to set up shop in the city, and these companies will invest more than HK$40 billion (US$5.1 billion) in Hong Kong over the coming years and create more than 13,000 jobs.

“We were truly honoured to have the presence of many internationally renowned speakers for the summit,” he said.