Chinese vice-premier He Lifeng, the government’s top man on the financial industry, is scheduled to lead a delegation of senior bankers and officials to Hong Kong next week for the third annual conference of global financiers, according to sources familiar with the plans.
He is expected to lead a contingent comprising the heads of China’s state banks, including Bank of China’s chairman Ge Haijiao, to attend the 2024 Global Financial Leaders Investment Summit organised by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the sources said.
The delegation will be the biggest participation by mainland officials and bankers to Hong Kong since HKMA kicked off its inaugural confab in 2022 to announce to the world that the city was “back in business” after the Covid-19 pandemic. During last year’s conference, He delivered a keynote address by video from Beijing on the event’s opening day.
More than 100 chairpersons and CEOs of global banks have confirmed their attendance at this year’s edition from November 18 to 20, HKMA CEO Eddie Yue Wai-man said in an interview last month. The 300-person capacity at the summit’s venue, the Grand Hyatt hotel in Wan Chai, is completely filled, with some financiers remaining on the waiting list.
The agenda of the conference reflects a potent mix of risks, from geopolitical tension to technology disruptions and climate change, that is roiling global financial markets. These issues have increased the need for stronger prudential management to protect market stability, Yue said.
“Sailing through changes” will offer the time and venue for banks and money managers to reflect on the upheavals, after overcoming the shocks from the Covid-19 pandemic, Yue said.