Hong Kong, SAR–(Newsfile Corp. – January 21, 2026) – Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), has joined about 3,000 world leaders attending the 56th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland (January 19-23). During the WEF Annual Meeting 2026, themed “A Spirit of Dialogue”, Mr Chan attends, speaks and joins discussions at several keynote meetings, luncheons and dinners. He also meets with political, business and financial leaders to brief them on the latest situation in Hong Kong as well as the city’s new opportunities.
Mr Chan attended a breakfast reception hosted by virtual asset enterprise Animoca Brands, headquartered in Hong Kong, yesterday (January 20). Speaking at the meeting, Mr Chan said that Hong Kong adopts a proactive yet prudent approach to the development of digital assets guided by the principle of “same activity, same risk, same regulation” to promote responsible and sustainable market development. Since 2023, Hong Kong has issued licences to 11 virtual asset trading platforms, and a licensing regime for stablecoins is expected to be launched later this year. The Financial Secretary also noted the HKSAR Government’s leadership role in promoting tokenisation, including the issuance of three batches of tokenised green bonds amounting to around US$2.1 billion.
Mr Chan also engaged with a number of officials from different economies and regional organisations attending the WEF Annual Meeting, including Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance of Thailand, Mr Ekniti Nitithanprapas; the Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Mr Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi; the Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of Egypt, Mr Hassan El Khatib; and the State Secretary for International Finance at the Federal Department of Finance of Switzerland, Ms Daniela Stoffel. They exchanged views on the global political and economic landscape and issues of mutual concern, and explored opportunities to strengthen collaboration in areas such as trade, finance, industry development and digital transformation.
During a meeting with the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Mr Chan reiterated that Hong Kong, China firmly supports free trade and multilateralism, and expressed support for the WTO’s efforts to pursue reforms in response to current global challenges, with a view to enhancing its agility in addressing emerging issues in international trade.
