#广场狂热挑战赛 In recent years, affected by the global economic downturn, Hong Kong's real economy has experienced major external impacts, which has also affected the confidence of international investors in Hong Kong's financial market to a certain extent, making the development of the financial industry difficult.
Since February, Hong Kong has fully opened up communications with the mainland, and has resumed business activities such as group travel between mainland residents and Hong Kong and Macao. Hong Kong’s comprehensive opening up is both a challenge and a development opportunity that cannot be missed for the financial technology industry. Whether Hong Kong's relevant industries have enough foundation and ability to seize the historic opportunity of the great financial changes, face the future, improve the financial ecology, and enhance the international competitiveness of Hong Kong's financial center has always been a topic of concern to the outside world.
At the same time, in April, a new hot word appeared in outside discussions - Hong Kong Web3. As tens of thousands of industry professionals go to Hong Kong to participate in field dialogues, a voice that believes that Web3 will successfully complete its transformation in Hong Kong has gradually emerged.
How is Hong Kong different in April from before? Are the series of Web3 and virtual asset-related policies currently introduced in Hong Kong beneficial? How does Web3 promote the establishment of a new financial model in Hong Kong?
Financial ecology and policies go hand in hand, and integrating new elements is the key
According to a research report by the Hong Kong Financial Services Development Council, Hong Kong’s technology and data skills are still the largest skills gap in the financial services industry. The Hong Kong government is gradually realizing this pain point and has successively issued favorable policies and regulations for financial technology, aiming to promote the flow of internal and external talents, technology, and services.
Especially recently, with the establishment of the Hong Kong Web3 Association, the integration of the financial technology industry and Web3 has been elevated to the upper-level design goal. The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said: “Web 3.0 plays a key role in the development of financial technology. The virtual asset policy declaration issued at the end of last year shows that the government has an open attitude and firm determination. Recently, some leading technology companies and high-tech start-ups have considered developing business in Hong Kong. , including virtual asset trading platforms, blockchain infrastructure companies, virtual currency wallets, payment companies and other related projects. Innovation and technology is a key development area in Hong Kong. The development of Web3.0 is at a golden starting point and can change the original business operation model. At the same time To create more new opportunities, Hong Kong must dare to be the leader of this wave of innovation."
Leung Han-king, head of fintech at Invest Hong Kong, also said that recent events and market developments have shown that digital assets have a real and obvious impact on the real economy, and this development trend is inevitable. In the asset tokenization market worth hundreds of billions of dollars, how to tokenize huge traditional assets is the biggest development opportunity for Hong Kong's virtual asset industry.
Compared with Singapore, the Asian financial center that has been discussed for a long time, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, as a judicial region with independent legislative power, has clearer advantages. Just from the virtual asset-related policies promulgated in recent years, we can see that the Hong Kong government’s foresight and regulatory capabilities are remarkable, analyzed Wang Wei, a legal expert at Web3 and a partner at Tianyuan Law Firm.
The recent policies can be seen as a strong declaration by the Hong Kong government to consolidate its position as an international financial center. The opportunities contained in it can be compared to the modern foreign exchange market that emerged after the disintegration of the Bretton Woods system in the 1970s. It deserves not only the attention of Web3.0 practitioners, but also the attention of all practitioners in the financial industry.
Hong Kong Finance and Web3 are about to stage a big drama
Although the policy foundation has solidified the foundation of Hong Kong's new financial model, the industry has different opinions on how to develop it in the future.
"For Hong Kong to become a Web3 center, it is related to many factors. There are still deficiencies in policies, taxes, living costs and convenience, supporting construction, etc., and construction and development need to be strengthened." Tony Fu, Web3 entrepreneurial veteran and CEO of NFTChina, as a vertical field entrepreneur The main force still maintains a wait-and-see attitude.
However, most media and legal players are already ready to welcome Hong Kong Web3. Yu Ning, a senior media person and Web3 observer, said that Web3 needs Hong Kong, and Hong Kong also needs Web3 to resist the economic recession after brain drain. Therefore, Hong Kong Web3 will not be just a flash in the pan. Only if the talent density is high enough, the industry will flourish. If Hong Kong's policies continue to be favorable, people can still be retained.
This is also recognized by some legal workers. Hong Kong is currently working hard to attract projects, attract technical talents to Hong Kong, and formulate a series of industry regulations to guide the compliance development of the industry. This is a good trend and may help the Web3 industry itself. Towards health.
In the "2018 Financial Technology Global Center Cities Report", Hong Kong's comprehensive index ranked tenth in the world based on factors such as the financial technology industry, ecology, and supervision. However, in the "2022 Global Fintech Center Cities Report", Hong Kong has ranked thirteenth. Taken together, Hong Kong's financial industry must break away from the habitual thinking of being complacent, promote self-innovation with an innovative spirit, actively integrate Web3 and other advanced technology and consensus elements, and leverage its information technology infrastructure and strong R&D and innovation capabilities in a situation that urgently needs breakthroughs. , Only in this way can we provide Asia with a satisfactory new financial development answer sheet.