Hong Kong market surge, geopolitics drive ‘fear of missing out’ among French investors
Finance chief Paul Chan says shift fuelled by city’s strong market performance and improved geopolitical situation, especially after Xi-Trump summit
French investors are warming to Hong Kong again, the city’s finance chief has said, citing a “marked difference” in perceptions since his last visit to Paris two years ago.
The shift was driven by Hong Kong’s strong market performance and an improved geopolitical situation, especially following US President Donald Trump’s recent visit to Beijing, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po told the South China Morning Post on the sidelines of a Paris ministerial conference on terrorism financing.
“Two years ago they were still sceptical … they harboured some doubt as to how Hong Kong would rise as an international financial centre after Covid-19,” he said, adding that the geopolitical situation at the time was also “quite tense”.
Chan said the atmosphere had since improved significantly, adding Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping had generated “a lot of positive sentiment”.
“But over and above that, indeed, our financial market over the past two years has been doing very well,” he said.
Some French businesspeople with operations in Hong Kong had told him that they had enjoyed two good years in terms of operating profit, the minister noted.
Hong Kong’s stock market rose by 28 per cent last year, and the International Monetary Fund and two major credit rating agencies have recently given positive assessments of the city’s economic policies, according to Chan’s office.