Hong Kong Economic Herald:
I have a question for Mr. Guo. You said earlier in Hong Kong that Hong Kong is an irreplaceable bridge. What new measures will the CIRC take to support and stabilize Hong Kong's status as an international financial center during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, especially to support Hong Kong as an offshore RMB center as well as the issuance of digital currency bonds?
Guo Shuqing:
Digital currency is mainly a matter of the central bank. Although I work in the central bank, today is a special session of the CIRC. You may seek an answer another time from the staff of the central bank.
My colleagues and I share the same attitude towards the issue of Hong Kong. We are full of emotion and we firmly support the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong. As an important financial center in the world, Hong Kong has played an irreplaceable role in the past 40 years of reform and opening up on the Chinese mainland. As far as the utilization of foreign capital is concerned, the vast majority of foreign direct investment and the vast majority of foreign capital flowed in through Hong Kong. At present, investment in the capital market, such as the "Shanghai Hong Kong Stock Connect," "Shenzhen Hong Kong Stock Connect" and "Bond Connect," also came in through Hong Kong. I still remember that when I was the chairman of the CSRC in 2012, two officials from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange studied and put forward the idea of the "Shanghai Hong Kong Stock Connect". When we discussed it together, we thought it was very feasible and indeed it has played a very good role. In the course of future development, Hong Kong can also provide support for mainland enterprises in listing and issuing bonds. We support foreign debt, US dollar debt, foreign currency debt, RMB, Hong Kong dollar and other forms. We also support the listing of banking and insurance institutions in Hong Kong and the development of more Hong Kong banking and insurance institutions on the mainland. We hope to continue this trend in the future.
Recently, we have formulated the development plan of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, in which the financial sector accounts for a large proportion, and there will be many new initiatives. There will be more new initiatives especially in the aspect of financial management, such as financial links. These initiatives are now being studied and discussed and will be gradually implemented. We believe that Hong Kong's economic growth will turn from negative to positive this year, and there will be good prospects. Thank you.
