香港金融發展局2022/23年報

7 - 9Message from Executive Director 10 - 13Telling Good Stories of Hong Kong 22 - 36Committee Membership 46 - 102Market Promotion 105 - 116Human Capital Development 117 - 154New Developments on FSDC’s Recommendations 155 - 163Directors’ Report 164 - 204Financial Statements CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE Hong Kong’s Raison d’être One of my favourite stories from Hong Kong’s history is thebuilding of the Kowloon-Canton Railway. 1864 In 1864, a British engineer from India proposed the idea to ourlocal Chamber of Commerce. But business interests, dominatedby operators of and investors in waterway transport via the PearlRiver, urged caution and effectively killed the proposal. 3019051910 It took 30 years, and a change in the geopolitical environment, forthe idea to come back. By the turn of the century, several westerncountries were vying to build and operate railways in China. TheBritish Government, sensing competition, stepped in. Throughcajoling business actors, diplomacy with Chinese authorities, andoutright financing of the construction costs, it was able to startthe project in 1905. By 1910, the railway was opened. 48.51,435 The rail was on the standard gauge of 4 feet 8½ inches (1,435millimetres), which over time became the most widely used gaugeinternationally, including throughout China today. ––2018 The plan was for the railway to become part of a Beijing-Hankou-Hong Kong line and at one point to connect to the OrientExpress. Neither happened – until a century later, when, in 2018,Hong Kong connected to the national high speed rail network. I like this story because, of course, it reflects Hong Kong’s raisond’être. We have always been about connecting the Mainland andthe world. Moreover, I like the story because it has all the elements of whatit takes to build connectivity. It takes an idea, indeed a vision; ittakes timing; it takes challenges, even competition; it takes privateand public sector involvement; and, above all, it takes evolutionand adaptation. Connectivity in Finance Hong Kong’s story as an international financial centre is the same.It is just that activities in finance happen so fast, we sometimeslose the sense of history. Let us pause and think, with the relatively recent example of thevarious “Connect” schemes. 201320142016201720212022ETF2023320235 The idea was first raised by the private sector in 2013. Withgovernment support both locally and nationally, the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect launched in 2014. It was followedquickly by the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect in 2016;Bond Connect in 2017; Wealth Management Connect in 2021;ETF Connect in 2022; inclusion of foreign companies in StockConnect (which I like to call “Foreign Companies Connect”) inMarch 2023; and, the latest, Swap Connect in May 2023. There are, of course, many other measures which connect HongKong and the Mainland’s financial markets and financial servicesindustry. I referred to the Connect schemes because their fastdevelopment also shows an evolution which is important toappreciate. The first Stock Connects had a centralized model. The products,Mainland companies’ stocks, were already popular with investorson both sides. Bond Connect built on that and connected thebond markets. CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE ETF Wealth Management Connect was more decentralized andtapped private savings pools. ETF Connect was a natural addition,and demonstrated Hong Kong’s commitment to connectivity evenwhen the immediate benefits to us were uncertain. “Foreign Companies Connect” took the connectivity another levelfurther. It allowed foreign issuers to access the Mainland’s capitalmarket. Swap Connect points to the direction of evolution. It connects theinterest rate swap markets. This is a major development for theonshore and offshore RMB markets. With the increasing use ofthe currency internationally, connecting RMB with the world is afacet of Hong Kong as an international financial centre which willtake us very far. The World Evolved It was often said that Hong Kong was “a bridge between Eastand West”. If this description is accurate, that role was a relativelyeasy one – connecting only two sides, and when the two sidesthemselves were keen to increase exchange with each other. The world has definitely evolved. Relationships have changed. GDP19803%202218%25% China has grown from accounting for less than 3% of the world’sGDP in 1980 to more than 18% in 2022. The US was 25% thenand now. GDPGDP31.5%G730% BRICS countries together now account for 31.5% of global GDPin purchasing power parity terms, whilst G7 countries account for30%. The world is also more multipolar. It cannot be thought of assimply “East and West”. The “East” is itself multifaceted. China and ASEAN have becomeeach other’s largest trading partner. Including Japan and Korea,two-thirds of Asia’s trade is now intra-regional. The same for the “West”. The western countries (which,incidentally, are not all to the west of us) have different interestsin