Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau: In the first three quarters, the average daily trading volume of Hong Kong ETFs increased by 1.13 times compared to the entire last year

The Acting Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Chen Haolian, pointed out that Hong Kong's new stock market has welcomed 69 new listed companies in the first three quarters of this year, with initial public offering fundraising exceeding HKD 180 billion, more than doubling compared to the same period last year, ranking first in the world. The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) is processing nearly 300 listing applications as of the end of September. Additionally, since the reform of the GEM market in 2024, 4 companies have been listed, raising HKD 280 million. So far this year, 11 small and medium-sized enterprises have applied to be listed on GEM.

He stated that to enhance Hong Kong's competitiveness as a listing venue, the Securities and Futures Commission and HKEX have been continuously reviewing the effectiveness of various listing reforms and actively following up on the measures proposed in the policy address, including further improving all aspects of the listing system while balancing related risks and investor protection, and studying the optimization of the "dual-class share" listing regulations. Research will also further explore how to better serve the financing needs of different types and sizes of enterprises based on the GEM reform, and attract more investors and capital into the Hong Kong market. HKEX will announce optimization proposals to the public in a timely manner based on the principle of "mature one, launch one" and conduct public consultations.

In addition, the ETF market has developed rapidly in recent years. Chen Haolian stated that in the first three quarters of this year, the average daily trading volume of ETFs in the Hong Kong market reached HKD 34.2 billion, a leap of 113% compared to the average for the entire year of 2024, and an increase of 190% compared to the average for the entire year of 2023. As of the end of September, the asset management scale of the Hong Kong ETF market has reached HKD 625.4 billion. This year will also see the cross-border listing of the fifth largest ETF by market capitalization globally in Hong Kong, as well as the listing of the first Islamic bond ETF in Hong Kong