The 11th Asian Financial Forum Held in Hong Kong

Zeng Rui

The Delegation from Chongqing： Exploring Better Ways to Going Out by the Belt and Road Initiative

From January 15 to 16， 2018， the 11th Asian Financial Forum （AFF） was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. A 34-person delegation from Chongqing attended the event. The delegation was formed by units including Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Chongqing Municipal Peoples Government， Chongqing Overseas Exchange Association， Economic Development Bureau of Wanzhou District of Chongqing， Financial Affairs Office of Jiangbei District of Chongqing， Financial Affairs Office of Shapingba District of Chongqing， Chongqing Lifan Holdings Group， Chongqing Branch of Industrial Bank， Management Committee of Jiangbeizui Central Business District and Chongqing Zhengyin Guanghui Equity Investment Co.， Ltd..

Financial Elites Discussing Innovation and Growth

Under the theme Steering Growth and Pioneering Innovation： Asia and Beyond， the 11th Asian Financial Forum attracted over 3，000 government officials， financial elites and business leaders from all over the world to discuss the economic trends around the world， discover industries with the greatest growth potential， and seize the investment opportunities presented by technology and innovation. Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor， Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China， and Vincent HS Lo， Chairman of Hong Kong Trade Development Council， officiated at the opening ceremony of the forum. Vincent Lau said in his remark， “In the situation where the growth in trade is in step with that in investment and industry， the economy is in a bull market and lowflation and monetary policies support enterprises to gain profits and make investment. At the same time， technology has added new impetus to the economy. I believe investment and innovation will be the key elements to push future growth.”

It is said that during the forum， participants from different countries actively discussed opportunities for business cooperation and investment. During the AFF Deal Flow Global Matchmaking Session， more than 670 one-on-one meetings were arranged， bringing the participants many opportunities for business development and investment.

The Chinese Mainland Market Most Favored by AFF Participants

China is the second-largest economy in the world. In recent years， exchange rates， monetary policies， initiatives for industrial development and the Belt and Road Initiative in the Chinese mainland have had great impact on the global economy and the financial market. The Policy Dialogue part of the 11th Asian Financial Forum especially chose the theme the Impact of Chinas Policies on the Global Economy and invited Andreas Dombret， a member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank， Stuart Gulliver， Group Chief Executive of HSBC Holdings plc， Hu Huaibang， Chairman of China Development Bank， Jin Liqun， Secretary-General of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank， and David Lipton， First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund， to share their views on the economic and financial policies of the Chinese mainland.

At the same time， on-site real-time surveys conducted during AFF sought to gauge the views of participants. According to the data offered by Hong Kong Trade Development Council， 55% of the respondents believed that the Chinese mainland would be the most promising market for investment returns in 2018， and the most favored three industries were telecommunications， media and technology， followed by health-care and green industries； 32% of the respondents considered economic opening and structural reforms would be Chinas main economic growth engines in 2018； over 19% of the respondents thought that the in-depth implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative would also be Chinas main growth engine in 2018.

Chongqing Has Been a Regular Guest of AFF

From the 5th Asian Financial Forum 2011 to the 11th Asian Financial Forum 2018， Chongqing has organized delegations to attend 8 consecutive AFF， taking full advantage of the forum， the most influential financial event in Asia， to introduce Chongqing globally and promote the opening up of Chongqing and the development for Chongqing export-oriented economy. So Chongqing has already been a true regular guest of AFF. Many units and organizations including Economic Development Bureau of Wanzhou District of Chongqing and Financial Affairs Office of Jiangbei District of Chongqing have participated in the forum.

During the forum， the delegation from Chongqing took an active part in the activities of the forum and visited organizations like Silk Road Chamber of International Commerce （its headquarter is in Hong Kong） and the Chinese Manufacturers Association of Hong Kong to make communications， introduce the construction of key construction projects involving foreign entities including Liangjiang New Area， Chongqing Pilot Free Trade Zone， the China-Singapore （Chongqing） Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity， China Railway Express （Chongqing） and Chongqing， Guizhou， Guangxi and Gansu Southbound Ocean-Rail Joint Transport Channels， conduct in-depth discussions on the business opportunities from the Belt and Road Initiative in Chongqing， encourage more Chongqing enterprises to make good use of resources on the unique platform of Hong Kong to go out successfully， steadily and excellently， and introduce more high-quality foreign investments.