Asian Financial Forum to Kick off at the Outset of the 15th Five-Year Plan: Full Integration into the National Development Strategy and Promotion of Synergy between Finance and the Real Economy

2026 marks the opening year of the National 15th Five-Year Plan, a pivotal blueprint that charts a new course of high-quality national development over the next five years. The recommendations for the Plan highlight the need to develop new quality productive forces in line with local conditions, promote unimpeded domestic and international economic flows, deepen reform and opening-up, and promote the full integration between green and low-carbon transitions and the digital economy. These directives not only point out the directions for national economic and social development, but also present Hong Kong, an international financial centre, with significant opportunities and new missions. We will commit ourselves to proactively integrating into and contributing to the country’s overall development by leveraging our unique strengths to propel our real economy towards high-quality development.

Hong Kong’s financial sector has always served as a vital bridge connecting the Chinese Mainland and the world. As we embark on the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, it is imperative that we step up efforts to promote the deep integration of finance with the real economy. Hong Kong has long supported global trade and investment with our free and open market environment, sound rule of law, and internationally aligned financial system. Today, we are speeding up our transformation into a professional services hub, providing enterprises with comprehensive support covering trade financing, supply chain management, risk management and innovative investment. This line of actions aligns closely with national policies, in particular the objectives of ensuring that industrial chains become more self-supporting and risk-resilient, developing advanced manufacturing clusters, and advancing high-standard opening up. Hong Kong’s financial services are progressing from mere facilitation of capital flows to deep empowerment of real industries, helping enterprises enhance resilience and seize new opportunities in the restructuring of global supply chains.

To drive this progress forward, we will host the 19th Asian Financial Forum (AFF) on 26 and 27 January, featuring the inaugural Global Business Summit. Under the theme “Co-creating New Horizons Amid an Evolving Landscape”, the AFF will bring together global financial and industry leaders to explore ways of achieving mutual benefits in a complex and volatile international environment. The AFF is expected to attract over 3 600 participants from 60 countries and regions, with over 80% being chief executive officers or senior decision-makers. Hot topics to be covered include global economic outlook, asset and wealth management, green finance and sustainable transformation, with a focus on how finance can better serve the real economy.

The curtain of the AFF will rise with an opening ceremony focusing on the macroeconomic landscape and multilateral co-operation. The first day will also feature the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on gold market development, signifying a major step forward in the development of a gold market in Hong Kong. The latest plan to enhance the establishment of a central clearing system for gold trading, which paves the way for future mutual market access with the Chinese Mainland, will also be unveiled during the ceremony. Echoing the national strategy of building the country into a financial powerhouse, this initiative also provides global investors with more comprehensive hedging and asset allocation tools, thereby establishing Hong Kong as an international gold trading hub. A panel discussion to be held on the same day will give a detailed analysis of the latest trends in the global gold market, offering forward-looking insights to investors.。