Beijing, September 15, 2026 – On September 8, 2026, China Securities’ 2026 Global Investors Conference was held in Hong Kong. Dr. He Haifeng, the firm’s Global Chief Economist, delivered a keynote speech titled “Hong Kong as a Global Financial Hub – Wealth Management in Our Time.” Taking a historical perspective on the rise and fall of major powers, Dr. He examined the latest evolution of China’s economic growth drivers and the historic transformation of Hong Kong’s cross-border wealth management industry, offering an in-depth assessment of global asset allocation trends and the outlook for Hong Kong as an international financial center.
He noted that against the backdrop of prolonged strategic competition among major powers and an accelerating reallocation of global capital, Hong Kong, as a critical gateway connecting China with the rest of the world, is embracing new opportunities. The continued emergence of new growth drivers in the Chinese economy, meanwhile, provides a solid foundation for this process.
The Era of “Great-Power Competition”
Dr. He noted that China is returning—and will inevitably return—to its historical position. The relationship between population growth and per capita income has undergone a fundamental transformation over the past 500 years. During the “first millennium,” the global population increased by one-sixth, while per capita income recorded virtually no growth. During the “second millennium,” however, the global population expanded 22-fold, per capita income increased 13-fold, and global GDP grew by more than 300 times.
In China’s case, since the launch of reform and opening-up, China’s share of global GDP has risen steadily from 1.7% in 1978, making the country one of the key engines of global economic growth. “We often refer to two miracles: one is rapid economic growth, and the other is long-term social stability.” Without the social stability, sustained and rapid economic growth would not have been possible. Rapid economic development and long-term social stability are indispensable.
Dr. He further analyzed the current stage of China’s economic development. China’s GDP growth slowed from double-digit growth during the 11th Five-Year Plan period to 8% during the 12th Five-Year Plan, 5.7% during the 13th Five-Year Plan, and 5.4% during the 14th Five-Year Plan. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China will no longer pursue growth in absolute terms as its primary objective. This, however, does not mean that the Chinese economy will lose its growth momentum.
The latest estimates of China’s new economic momentum index show that the index reached 153.0 in 2025, up 12.5% year on year. New growth drivers continued to expand, injecting greater vitality into economic development. Innovation-driven growth played an increasingly prominent role, the digital economy maintained faster growth, and the pace of economic transformation and upgrading accelerated, supporting China’s shift toward high-quality development.
According to a study by Goldman Sachs, China is expected to surpass the US by 2035, while India is projected to become the world’s second-largest economy by 2075, with Indonesia emerging as the fourth-largest economy globally. This marks the beginning of a new era and a new global landscape characterized by the “rise of the East and decline of the West.”
In the financial sector, Dr. He noted that building China into a financial powerhouse has become a national strategic priority, encompassing a strong currency, a strong central bank and robust financial markets. As an anchor of the financial system, the bond market is assuming increasing importance.
Meanwhile, the newly appointed head of the Federal Reserve emphasized in a recent lengthy speech that the global economic and financial order has reached an inflection point and that financial policy frameworks are entering a new era. Artificial intelligence has significantly raised the potential for economic growth, but the effective application of LLMs requires deep integration with industries and real-world use cases. Breakthroughs are also continuing in hardware technologies such as chips. Some studies suggest that both the limits associated with Moore’s Law and traditional economies of scale could be disrupted, with technological transformation fundamentally reshaping the global productivity landscape.
Hong Kong: From a Cross-Border Wealth Hub to a New Global Financial Center
Dr. He noted that, from a theoretical perspective, the conditions underpinning a wealth center differ from those of a financial center. A financial center is built around a central city and financial markets, while the necessary conditions for a wealth center are information and liquidity, with technology and talent serving as sufficient conditions.
He emphasized the importance of Hong Kong’s status as an international financial center. For example, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has ranked among the world’s leading IPO financing markets for two consecutive years, while bond issuance has reached record high. Hong Kong has also emerged as the world’s largest cross-border wealth management center, and is fast-tracking five-year plans for its financial and capital markets.
“Data show that Hong Kong has surpassed Switzerland for the first time to become the world’s largest cross-border wealth center,” Dr. He said.
On May 27, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) released its Global Wealth Report 2026, which showed that Hong Kong had surpassed Switzerland for the first time to become the world’s largest cross-border wealth management center. Driven by factors including capital inflows from Chinese Mainland, strong IPO activity and a favorable equity market environment, Hong Kong’s cross-border wealth under management increased 10.7% year on year in 2025 to US$2.9 trillion.
The report noted that the global wealth management industry is undergoing a broader transformation across multiple dimensions, including the rotation of leading wealth centers, wealth accumulation in emerging markets, intergenerational wealth transfer and the transformation of AI operation models.
More southbound capital is expected to flow into Hong Kong over the coming years, potentially widening the gap with Switzerland in both the scale and growth rate of cross-border wealth managed in the two centers.
Looking ahead, Dr. He expects a wave of supportive policies. The outline of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan calls for support for Hong Kong in consolidating and enhancing its position as an international financial, shipping and trade center, as well as an international aviation hub. It also calls for strengthening Hong Kong’s functions as a global offshore RMB business hub, an international asset and wealth management center, and an international risk management center, while developing a commodities trading ecosystem and a high-value-added supply chain services hub.
This landmark policy framework is expected to further strengthen the momentum behind Hong Kong’s development as an international financial and wealth management center.
At a time when global geopolitics, supply chains and technology are undergoing rapid and profound transformation, Hong Kong, in its role as a “super-connector,” is poised to capture new opportunities in areas including cross-border wealth management and further opening-up of the capital markets. Hong Kong is also set to emerge as a “super wealth manager.”
Rooted in Hong Kong and reaching out to the world, this has become a shared vision for a new era of wealth.
About China Securities
China Securities, established on November 2, 2005, is a nationwide large-scale comprehensive securities company approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). It is headquartered in Beijing. On December 9, 2016, CSC was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. On June 20, 2018, the company was listed on the Main Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. CSC has over 300 securities branches across 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government, and owns five wholly-owned subsidiaries: China Futures Co.,Ltd. , China Capital Management Co., Ltd. , China Securities (International) Finance Holding Company Limited, China Fund Management Co., Ltd., and China Securities Investment Co., Ltd. CSC enjoys an excellent reputation for providing high-quality and professional financial services to governments, enterprises, institutions, and individual investors. Notably, CSC was one of the first six securities companies in CSRC’s Consolidated.
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