Hong Kong and Shenzhen jointly launched an action plan on Wednesday as the two financial centers strive to establish a global financial technology center by leveraging their respective strengths.
The Action Plan for Jointly Building Hong Kong-Shenzhen Global Fintech Hub (2025-2027), compiled by Hong Kong’s Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Local Financial Management Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality, was released at the 19th Shenzhen International Finance Expo, which kicked off in Shenzhen on Wednesday and runs through Friday.
The action plan aims to deepen the joint efforts of the two places in fintech research and development, scenario adaptation and achievement transformation, and foster a coordinated development pattern where digital finance synergizes with technology, green, inclusive and elderly-care finance.
It marks a pivotal step in advancing the integrated development of Shenzhen-Hong Kong fintech, providing a roadmap for cross-boundary financial innovation.
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The plan has set a target of establishing over 20 financial application scenarios via the Shenzhen-Hong Kong cross-boundary data validation platform by the end of 2027.
“Shenzhen and Hong Kong boast a solid foundation and broad prospects for deeper fintech collaboration,” said Shi Weigan, director of the Local Financial Management Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality, the city's finance watchdog.
“Shenzhen has seen rapid fintech development and already fostered a robust ecosystem, while Hong Kong – a leading global financial hub – ranks among the world’s top-tier fintech jurisdictions.”
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Shenzhen is home to 13 enterprises that were selected for the top 50 most influential fintech players by Forbes China last year. Meanwhile, Hong Kong and Shenzhen ranked top and second globally in fintech, according to the latest Global Financial Centres Index jointly published by two leading think tanks — UK-based Z/Yen and Shenzhen-based the China Development Institute – in September.
Secretary for the Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu said his bureau and financial regulators in Hong Kong will work closely with their Shenzhen counterparts to “actively implement the various initiatives in the action plan, and jointly facilitate the high-quality fintech development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area”.
The action plan outlined six key initiatives. They include efforts to aggregate fintech entities; support original technological R&D; facilitate synergistic development by backing tech firms' financing through Hong Kong's listing channels; develop featured application scenarios; optimize the regulatory environment; and foster a vibrant industry ecosystem by organizing talent-focused events and perfecting Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macao collaborative mechanism.
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Li Wei, director of the science and technology department at People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, said the bank will work to advance artificial intelligence application in finance as part of its efforts to propel high-quality financial development.
A top-level design document for “AI+ finance” could be launched as well as a mechanism for co-constructing and sharing smart computing infrastructure in the financial sector, he said.
“Through these efforts, we hope to lower barriers to AI adoption in finance and address the key challenges of lacking intelligent computing power and high-quality data faced by small and medium-sized institutions.”
