Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Algernon Yau today attended the 2nd Zhejiang-Hong Kong Modern Professional Services Cooperation Conference in Ningbo, Zhejiang.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mr Yau said that, building on the foundation of the Hong Kong/Zhejiang Co-operation Conference Mechanism established in April, the two places will work together to promote collaboration in professional services such as accounting and auditing, legal and dispute resolution, management consulting, intellectual property, industrial design, planning, and architectural and engineering services.

In the first half of this year, Hong Kong has completed 42 initial public offerings, raising over HK$107 billion, which is 20% more than the full-year total for 2024. Mr Yau highlighted that as of June, 19 enterprises from Zhejiang had applied for listings in Hong Kong, accounting for about 10% of the total number of applicants.

He added that this fully reflects the fact that Hong Kong’s robust financial market has become the prime listing platform for Mainland enterprises.

The commerce chief emphasised that thanks to a solid foundation of economic and trade co-operation, Zhejiang and Hong Kong can jointly strengthen collaboration in modern professional services, thereby attracting global investors to use Hong Kong as a springboard to tap the potential of the enormous Zhejiang market, while enabling Zhejiang enterprises to go global by making use of Hong Kong’s professional services.

Mr Yau returned to Hong Kong this evening.