Hong Kong’s recent achievement in overtaking Switzerland as the world’s largest center for cross-border wealth is more than a financial milestone. League tables may be useful, but they are not destiny. What matters is not only that Hong Kong has reached the top, but what it now does with this position.
For many years, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has described itself as a superconnector. But the world has changed. Connectivity alone is no longer enough.
In a more fragmented global environment, the bigger challenge is trust. Different jurisdictions now operate under different rules, political pressures, sanctions regimes, data requirements, tax expectations and regulatory philosophies. Capital is still mobile, but it is also more cautious. Investors ask not only where returns can be found, but where assets can be protected, disputes resolved, rules understood, and risks managed.
This is why Hong Kong’s next positioning should go beyond being a superconnector. The city should see itself as a trusted multisystems hub for finance and commercial dealings.
A trusted multisystems hub is more ambitious. Hong Kong must help different legal, financial, monetary, regulatory and commercial systems work with one another, even when the wider world is less certain and less trusting.
This is where Hong Kong’s real advantage lies. Under the “one country, two systems” framework, Hong Kong is part of China, while retaining its common law system, international financial practices, deep professional services, convertible currency, independent regulatory institutions, and long experience in cross-border business. These characteristics were not built overnight. They are institutional assets, precisely the assets the world needs in a period of geopolitical tension and economic reordering.
The growth of Hong Kong’s cross-border wealth business reflects its continuing strength as China’s offshore financial center. Chinese mainland capital has been an important driver. The revival of initial public offerings has also helped. Hong Kong remains the world’s leading offshore renminbi center, showing how the city can create practical channels between systems. But success also brings risk. If Hong Kong measures its achievement only by the volume of assets booked here, it may miss the deeper strategic task, as Bill Condon warned in his article Keeping HK’s Lead as Wealth Center Is a Long-term Endeavor (China Daily, June 7). He is right that being China’s offshore financial center is a strong foundation but not a complete strategy. Hong Kong must also broaden its investor base and market reach.
Recent overseas visits by SAR officials to new markets, including Central Asia and the Middle East, are useful. But the real work of market-building is done quietly, through follow-up, technical problem-solving, regulatory alignment, legal structuring, tax clarity, dispute-resolution mechanisms, professional networks, product development, and patient trust-building.
This is where Hong Kong must avoid siloed thinking. Finance cannot be left only to financial regulators. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Securities and Futures Commission, the Insurance Authority and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd cannot by themselves build the next generation of markets. A trusted multisystems hub requires the whole SAR government to understand finance within a broader ecosystem.
The new Hong Kong must move from promotion to orchestration. It must earn trust not only by connecting markets, but by helping different systems work together. That is what it means to be a trusted multisystems hub, and that is the role that can keep Hong Kong relevant, useful and resilient in the decade ahead
Tax policy, talent policy, visa arrangements, and data governance matter. Arbitration and dispute resolution matter. Company and insolvency law, insurance, shipping, trade documentation, family office policy, Islamic finance, university training and professional services all matter. These are not separate subjects. Together, they create the conditions under which people from different systems are willing to transact through Hong Kong.
Environmental concerns must also be part of this next model. Under China’s development direction, ecological civilization is the strategic framework that links high-quality development, carbon neutrality, green technology, biodiversity, infrastructure, finance, and regional cooperation. For Hong Kong, this means green finance and transition finance should not be treated only as financial products. They are part of how the city can support national development, support Asia’s real-economy transition, and create new trusted markets.
The question for Hong Kong is: What institutional conditions make Hong Kong the preferred place for people from different systems to settle, structure, finance, insure, arbitrate, list, trade, hold wealth, manage risk, and transact with confidence? This requires a different form of governance. Hong Kong needs stronger cross-bureau coordination around finance, commerce, sustainability and trust-building. The government should identify a small number of strategic market missions, with clear accountability and practical deliverables. One mission should be to strengthen Hong Kong as the trusted China-plus-global capital hub. A second should be to build the legal and commercial trust layer. A third should be to deepen green and transition finance, including standards, data, verification, insurance, carbon markets, and project pipelines. A fourth should be to rebuild or deepen market capabilities where Hong Kong faces strong competition.
External engagement should also be turned into real deal architecture. After overseas visits, who is conducting disciplined follow-up? What legal, regulatory or market barriers must be solved? This is not glamorous work. It will not always produce immediate headlines. But it is the work that builds the future.
In drafting Hong Kong’s first five-year plan, the city should clearly articulate its next model. That model must be based on trust, competence, and usefulness. Hong Kong should be the place where mainland reform meets global capital. It should be the place where international investors can confidently understand Chinese opportunities. It should be the place where emerging-market partners find financing, legal certainty, dispute resolution, and professional expertise. It should be the place where RMB internationalization, green finance, transition finance, family wealth, infrastructure investment, shipping finance, and risk management converge.
The ingredients are here, but the fried rice needs to be stir-fried. To achieve this, Hong Kong needs a whole-of-government mindset in stronger orchestration. Government must be able to connect policy areas that are too often treated separately: finance, law, trade, technology, talent, sustainability, external relations, and national development.
The prize is significant. If Hong Kong gets this right, it will not merely hold a top ranking in cross-border wealth. It will become more valuable to the country and to the world. It will help China engage global capital in a more complex era. It will support the green transformation required by ecological civilization. And it will demonstrate the continuing practical value of the “one country, two systems” principle and an executive-led government.
The new Hong Kong must move from promotion to orchestration. It must earn trust not only by connecting markets, but by helping different systems work together. That is what it means to be a trusted multisystems hub, and that is the role that can keep Hong Kong relevant, useful and resilient in the decade ahead.
The author is the chief development strategist at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s Institute for the Environment.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
