One point separates Hong Kong from London in the latest ranking of global financial centers. One point also separates it from Singapore, just behind in fourth place. To win this tight race, hosting the APEC Finance Ministerial Meeting for the first time in the city on Tuesday and Wednesday could tip the scale in Hong Kong’s favor.

For two days, the people who shape where the region borrows and invests will be in one room. What Hong Kong puts in front of them could influence its future rankings.

The dominant narrative treats the event as an endorsement. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po wrote that hosting it reflects “the city’s status as an important international financial center in the region”.

That reading is correct but incomplete.

Recognition alone does not bring a single listing or bond issue to Hong Kong. The opportunity is to use two days with the region’s finance chiefs to turn this year’s record run of listings into a durable role as the place where Asia-Pacific savings meet Asia-Pacific investment needs.

The momentum is measurable

Initial public offerings are surging in Hong Kong. According to KPMG, the city raised more than HK$388 billion ($50 billion) from 116 IPO listings in the first nine months of 2026, setting a nine-month record and trailing only Nasdaq worldwide.

More than half of the proceeds went to companies in artificial intelligence, semiconductors and robotics. Shein, whose attempts to list in New York and London both stalled, began trading in Hong Kong on Sept 1.

The macroeconomic contrast reinforces the shift in favor of Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s economy grew 5.1 percent in the first half, prompting the government to raise its full-year forecast to between 3.5 and 4.5 percent. In contrast, the IMF’s July update projects growth of 1.0 percent for the United Kingdom and 0.9 percent for the euro area.

Issuers go where investors are, and investors go where growth is.

Why capital routes through Hong Kong

The structural case rests on institutions more than sentiment.

Hong Kong practices common law in Chinese and English, which is why international parties routinely place contracts and arbitration clauses under Hong Kong jurisdiction instead of the Chinese mainland’s civil law system. Capital moves and converts without approval, there is no capital gains tax, and the profits tax tops out at 16.5 percent. The mainland, by contrast, maintains a managed capital account.

On Oct 6, the Fraser Institute again ranked Hong Kong first among 165 jurisdictions for economic freedom, ahead of Switzerland and Singapore.

For a pension fund in Vancouver or a family office in Jakarta that wants exposure to the Chinese technology sector without convertibility risk, Hong Kong’s appeal is difficult to replicate.

What the rankings miss

Two risks to Hong Kong’s standing among global financial centers receive far less attention than they deserve.

The first is concentration. Thirty-seven A+H listings by companies already traded on the mainland supplied nearly 70 percent of this year’s IPO proceeds. (An A+H listing occurs when a mainland company issues domestic A-shares in renminbi while simultaneously floating H-shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange in Hong Kong dollars.)

Essentially, these A+H listings channel mainland capital formation through Hong Kong. While valuable, maintaining the city's status as a truly international financial hub requires attracting issuers from beyond the mainland, whether from Indonesia and Vietnam, Chile, or the Gulf.

The second is geopolitics. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent may send a deputy to Hong Kong while he prepares for President Donald Trump’s visit to Shenzhen in November. A hub that aspires to connect both sides of the Pacific cannot take Washington’s engagement for granted. It has to be useful enough that staying away carries a cost.

From showcase to deal flow

The APEC Finance Ministerial Meeting has four priorities: fiscal policy that supports livelihoods, digital infrastructure finance, inclusive finance, and young financial talent.

Each maps onto something Hong Kong already sells. The city arranged about $38 billion of green and sustainable bonds in 2025, leading Asia for an eighth consecutive year. The AI build-out in data centers and computing power needs long-dated, cross-border project finance. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Commercial Data Interchange lets small firms authorize banks to access their operating data, speeding loan approvals and offering a template for other APEC economies. And 87 percent of Hong Kong’s external trade is already with APEC members.

The test is what gets signed after the delegates leave.

Financial centers are path dependent: Once regional issuers, their bankers and their lawyers settle on a venue, they rarely move.

Hong Kong should use the meeting to put forward measurable initiatives: a regional pipeline of digital infrastructure projects financed through bonds arranged in Hong Kong, mutual recognition of SME credit data across APEC economies, and a listing channel designed for Southeast Asian and Latin American issuers.

If the share of non-mainland issuers rises over the next year, the one-point gap with London will close. If the city settles for a well-run conference, the one-point gap with Singapore will close as well.

The author is a distinguished professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.