The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government is considering establishing a special mediator panel to help resolve disputes in the commodities market, in concert with the International Organization for Mediation (IOMed), as part of the city’s latest efforts to strengthen its position as a global trading hub.

The proposed panel — integrated within the Hong Kong-based IOMed — aims to provide a neutral, expert-led platform for resolving disputes arising across the commodities value chain from upstream mining to downstream delivery, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Thursday.

Established last year in Wan Chai, IOMed is the world’s first intergovernmental legal organization dedicated to resolving cross-border disputes through mediation. Founding members include China, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Venezuela.

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Speaking at the London Metal Exchange Asia Metals Seminar 2026, Chan said the initiative can complement the government’s strategy to build Hong Kong into a leading gold and commodities trading hub.

“(It) helps facilitate cross-border transactions, mitigate risks and strengthen market confidence among global market participants,” he added.

The finance chief also highlighted Hong Kong’s thriving metal trading business and its persistent strong momentum, saying that the city’s exports of non-ferrous metals jumped nearly 35 percent last year, and increased 170 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026 alone.

With more metals and minerals firms establishing a presence or listing in Hong Kong, Chan said that the government will step up efforts to upgrade relevant infrastructure and offer incentives, including a 50 percent profits tax concession for commodity trading activities by mid-year.

He also said the authorities will look to cross-listing or mutual listing of metal-related financial instruments between Hong Kong and key global markets. He added that there is “clear room” for more renminbi-linked products in the SAR for market players from both the Chinese mainland and overseas.

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Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEX), the city’s stock exchange operator, reported record annual results for the second consecutive year in 2025, with profit reaching HK$17.8 billion ($2.27 billion), up 36 percent on the previous year.

Its subsidiary, the London Metal Exchange (LME), also saw an 8 percent yearly increase in global trading volumes, averaging 756,996 lots per trading day.

HKEX CEO Bonnie Chan Yi-ting attributed this momentum to the “exceptional volatility in the macro environment”, which she said has also benefited Hong Kong.

“For the longest time, global capital was highly concentrated geographically. … The persistence of geopolitical uncertainty has encouraged global investors to break this pattern,” she said.

“That has brought them to Asia, where there is massive growth potential, and that has brought them to Hong Kong, the region’s most globally relevant and connected international financial center,” Chan added.

As LME-approved warehouses in Hong Kong reach capacity, this marks an important milestone in establishing physical metal market connectivity, she said.

Since joining the LME’s global delivery network last year, Hong Kong has established 15 licensed warehouses, with more than 24,000 metric tons of LME metals already on warrant.

Matthew Chamberlain, CEO of LME, said the achievement exceeded his expectations and validated Hong Kong’s importance as a metal transit point.

He added that the metal exchange is keen to expand Hong Kong’s metal storage network, and plans to work with stakeholders “to see how we could really open this up and hopefully get from tens of thousands of tons to hundreds of thousands of tons we know would be the natural demand here”.

Contact the writer at gabylin@chinadailyhk.com