The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, continued his visit to Shanghai today (June 18) to deepen co-operation between Shanghai and Hong Kong in areas including finance, innovation and technology, as well as trade and commerce, and to further leverage Hong Kong's role as a "super connector" and "super value-adder".

     ​In the morning, Mr Chan met with the Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Mr Wu Qing, who was in Shanghai to attend the Lujiazui Forum. The two sides had in-depth exchanges on issues including continuing to support Mainland enterprises to list in Hong Kong, optimising the mutual market access mechanisms between the Mainland and Hong Kong capital markets, and taking forward financial regulatory co-operation between the two places. The Chief Executive Officer of the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong, Ms Julia Leung, also attended the meeting.

     ​Mr Chan then visited the Shanghai Gold Exchange and met with its Chairman, Mr Yu Wenjian, to exchange views on the collaborative development of the gold markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong. He subsequently visited the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and met with its Chairman, Mr Zhang Weizhong, with discussions focusing on advancing financial co-operation between the two places, in particular supporting finance to better serve Mainland enterprises in expanding their overseas businesses and empowering the innovation and technology ecosystem.

     ​Mr Chan also visited two leading enterprises in the AI sector. One of them focuses on distributed AI cloud computing services and has established its offshore headquarters in Hong Kong to provide computing power services to overseas users. The other is dedicated to developing next-generation photonic computing chips, seeking to break through computing power bottlenecks with "optical computing" technology.

     ​Mr Chan had detailed exchanges with the persons-in-charge of the two enterprises. He noted that the country's 15th Five-Year Plan clearly sets out the nurturing and strengthening of emerging and future industries, as well as expanding high-level opening-up. Riding on this opportunity, more Mainland innovation and technology enterprises are actively connecting and integrating resources from different places, expanding their global footprint and enhancing their competitive position in the industrial and supply chains. He highlighted that Hong Kong pools capital and top talent from both the Mainland and overseas, and possesses international data resources and rich application scenarios, a robust intellectual property protection regime, and quality, full-fledged financial and professional services. He welcomed the two enterprises' active consideration of listing and raising funds in Hong Kong, and making good use of Hong Kong's unique international advantages to further expand their international businesses.

     ​In the afternoon, Mr Chan concluded his visit to Shanghai and arrived in Nanjing to continue the next leg of his trip. In the evening, he will meet with the Executive Vice Governor of Jiangsu Province, Mr Ma Xin, to exchange views on deepening co-operation between Jiangsu and Hong Kong.

     ​Mr Chan will continue his visit programme to Nanjing tomorrow (June 19).

Ends/Thursday, June 18, 2026
Issued at HKT 17:30

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