Source: WFF      Published: June 20, 2026

The 9th World Finance Forum (WFF) Annual Conference and Dialogue of Continents 2026 High Level Seminar was successfully held on May 21, 2026, in Hong Kong. Victor Chu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of First Eastern Investment Group and Chair of Council, University College London (UCL), was invited to address the opening plenary session, sharing perspectives from the global business and investment communities on Hong Kong's unique positioning amid current geopolitical and economic shifts.

Victor Chu began by congratulating the WFF Secretariat for organizing what he described as an inspiring and excellent conference, noting that the discussions accurately captured the state of the world and the opportunities open to Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area. Drawing on his experience as Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum's International Business Council and his extensive international travels, Chu observed that while Hong Kong's status as an open market with a superb regulatory regime under "One Country, Two Systems" was grossly misunderstood by mainstream Western media in the post-COVID era, the city has now moved decisively beyond that period of misperception. He highlighted the tangible connectivity between Hong Kong and the GBA, pointing out that professionals now travel frequently across the border to seize readily available opportunities.

According to Victor Chu, Hong Kong's capital market has demonstrated remarkable resilience, retaining the number one position globally in public equity fundraising for the past couple of years—particularly in the healthcare and biotech sectors, where funds raised have exceeded the combined total of similar listings in South Korea, Japan, and Singapore. He cited the recent wave of strategic partnerships between multinational pharmaceutical companies and Chinese life sciences firms as a prime example of "win-win synergies" operating below the radar of geopolitical rivalry, adding that Hong Kong plays a key role in cementing these transactions by providing professional talent, market liquidity, and the widely accepted common law framework.

Victor Chu also underscored higher education as fundamental to Hong Kong's long-term soft power and brand. With at least four of its eight universities ranked within the world's Top 50—and potentially one breaking into the Top 10 in the upcoming QS World University Rankings—Hong Kong is enhancing its reputation as a world-class academic hub. He noted that bringing in more international students and expanding student accommodation are vital steps in promoting Hong Kong as an open, rules-based system and a trusted partner bridging East and West.

In conclusion, Chu called for renewed efforts to promote Hong Kong's resilience and prospects on the global stage. While two-way investment flows from ASEAN, the Middle East, and Central Asia are growing, he urged Hong Kong to proactively re-engage markets—especially in the West—that have long cast doubt on its recovery and potential. "Those who have come and seen will be convinced," Chu remarked, adding that Hong Kong must articulate its particular strengths and continue to develop its brand and advantages under "One Country, Two Systems" with confidence, but with humility.

The following is the original speech delivered by Victor Chu at the 9th World Finance Forum Annual Conference, transcribed from the live recording.

Anchoring Stability and Growth: Hong Kong’s Unique Window as a Super-Connector

——Victor Chu's speech at the 9th World Finance Forum  Annual Conference

Ladies and gentlemen,

I want to, first of all, congratulate the Secretary General Feng and your team for putting together such an inspiring, excellent conference. So far these speeches are really outstanding. They have really captured the state of the world and the opportunities open to us in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area. I do not wish to repeat some of the excellent remarks that my colleagues have made. I just want to share a few thoughts looking at Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area from the perspective of the global business community and the global investment community.

I believe Hong Kong has a unique moment, a unique window to deepen our already very good position in terms of being a superb bridge between East and West, between China, Asia, and the world. I say this because I co-chaired the International Business Council and I also travel extensively internationally. Coming out of COVID, we have a sense in Hong Kong that our position as a superb open market, our superb regulatory regime, and the advantages that we enjoy under the "One Country, Two Systems" principle have been grossly misunderstood by, particularly, mainstream Western media. That was a real problem because whatever we wanted to explain, it was not easy for us to go out during COVID, and it was very difficult for friends to visit us because of the quarantine requirements. This kind of misinformation breeds itself in a lot of minds.

Coming out of that, and particularly the connectivity today between Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area is real. Many of us here every month, maybe once or twice or more, go to Shenzhen and the Greater Bay Area to enjoy the opportunities that are now readily available and attractive to us because of the connectivity. Hong Kong’s captain market has again shown resilience, as Daryl Chen and Christopher Hui mentioned. It enjoys the number one position in terms of public equity financing in the world for the last couple of years and will continue to be in a leadership position for the immediate future, particularly in the healthcare fundraising sector. I think the fundraising on the healthcare companies coming onto the Hong Kong market has exceeded the fundraising in similar industries in Korea, Japan, and Singapore together.

That's something quite unique. I also see that in the last few months, major international pharmaceutical companies have not only invested, but established strategic partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies and life sciences companies in China. That is something which is what we call a “win-win” synergy, probably below the radar screen of our geopolitical rivalry, because Chinese pharmaceutical companies need international distribution, and international pharmaceutical companies need to source startups, licenses, and life sciences, innovations, which they find very difficult to serve by themselves.

This is a good beginning, and on all these major strategic partnership transactions, Hong Kong plays a key role in cementing them together. And hopefully, Hong Kong will continue to play a pivotal role in providing the talents for professional services, the market liquidity, and the acceptance of the Hong Kong legal system in putting these parties together.

Another area which I think is very important is higher education. We all know that of our eight universities in Hong Kong, at least four of them are within the world's Top 50. In fact, if recent media forecasts by Deakin are correct, next month when the QS World University ranking is announced, one of our Hong Kong leading universities will become a top 10 in the world. Certainly, the other three leading universities in Hong Kong may come within the Top 20 or Top 25. Now, Hong Kong universities have always enjoyed worldwide recognition for their excellence, but internationally, they are not as well known. This is something which is very fundamental. A Hong Kong university becoming a top ten university in the world and the other three becoming within the Top 25 will enhance Hong Kong’s reputation in higher education even further.

Higher education in Hong Kong is going through a major change because we are bringing in more international students and we are bringing more student accommodation, which was in the past one of the barriers to this particular development. This is very important for the long term because higher education, particularly opening up to more international students, is a development and promotion of Hong Kong’s long-term soft power. Hong Kong’s brand is very unique. Hong Kong is known as an open, rule-based system with a level playing field. Hong Kong’s brand means that we are recognized as a trusted partner for East and West, bringing the West into Asia and China and bringing China, Asia, and Central Asia into international markets, where Hong Kong has long enjoyed a very friendly relationship.

Looking at some of the major global challenges of today and tomorrow—energy security, food security, climate, digital transition, healthcare, pandemic preparedness, and so on—as we have heard in today's speeches, in some parts of the world, they are preoccupied with military conflict. They are concentrating on developing defense autonomy. Hong Kong and Asia are fortunate because so far we are free from that and we can concentrate on things that we can do best.

What we need to do now is not only promote and explain Hong Kong's resilience and unique prospects in forums like this, which we should do more, but we should encourage more international friends to join us. We need to double our efforts to go out, not only to new markets because investment flows are flowing in from ASEAN, the Middle East, and Central Asia, but also to our traditional markets, which have cast doubt on Hong Kong's recovery, resilience, and prospects for too long.

Those who have come and seen us will be convinced. But those who are still doubtful of us, particularly some of the depressed international markets in the West, we need to double our efforts to go out and explain to them, articulate our differences.

Again, congratulations, Secretary General Feng, for this excellent conference, and I look forward very much to the rest of the day when we can all learn more from each other. Together, we have to proceed and develop Hong Kong's brand, Hong Kong's particular advantages under the "One Country, Two Systems" principle, with confidence and humility. Thank you very much.（END）