Hong Kong Chief Executive Lee Ka-chiu announced during a speech at the 19th Asian Financial Forum that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has signed a cooperation agreement with the Shanghai Gold Exchange to launch a cross-border precious metals transaction clearing system.

The Hong Kong SAR Government aims to achieve a reserve capacity exceeding 2,000 tonnes within three years, a move that will establish Hong Kong as a regional gold reserve hub.

Lee Ka-chiu indicated that Hong Kong will continue to explore measures to deepen mutual benefits between mainland and Hong Kong financial market assets and is accelerating the development of new growth areas, including building an international gold trading market and a commodity trading ecosystem in Hong Kong.

A gold central clearing system will be established to provide efficient and reliable clearing services for gold transactions that meet international standards, thereby achieving diversification in gold investments and forming an industry organization in Hong Kong.

To date, 15 warehouses are already operational in Hong Kong, holding metal warrants for over 20,000 tonnes to support exchange contract fulfillment.

Lee Ka-chiu also stated that by the end of 2025, more than 200 family-owned enterprises had established institutions or expanded their business in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is striving to attract at least an additional 220 such enterprises by 2028 and will optimize the key approval systems for listings and product issuance.

HKEX (00388) is committed to promoting the electronic holding and trading of securities and will propose a plan to shorten the settlement cycle for Hong Kong's spot stock market in the coming months.