China ‘needs Hong Kong’ in race for global financial leadership, former stock exchange chief says
- There is a chance that China could become the leader in the global financial system, according to the former head of Hong Kong’s stock exchange operator
- Hong Kong would then need to become an extension of the East, rather than an extension of the Western world, said Charles Li
China is well on its way to becoming the world’s first digitalised and cashless economy, allowing it to dictate global financial rules while also enabling Hong Kong to shoulder an important responsibility alongside, according to the former head of the city’s stock exchange operator.
But as China still does not have the ability to change the US-centric global economy, the arrival of a digitalised era in the future means there is a real chance that China could become the one leading the global financial system and will no longer have to follow Western rules.
Hong Kong would then need to instead become an extension of the East unless it wants its status as a financial hub to come under threat, said Charles Li Xiaojia, former chief executive of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX).
Hong Kong is not grabbing the role, but it is China which needs Hong Kong