Hong Kong can help promote financial technology or Fintech companies in mainland China worldwide and create access to international finance, said a key official at the department level of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Charles d & # 39; Haussy, head of Fintech of Invest Hong Kong, who is responsible for foreign direct investment or FDI, said the fintech sector of mainland China is destined for explosive growth and can rely on some Hong Kong's guidelines, which over the years have acquired extraordinary expertise [19659002] "La fintech in China's mainland is business-to-customer or B2C, mainly from electronic commerce giants like Tencent and Alibaba. totally different and was a business-to-business or B2B from the two different fintech ecosystems are complementary, "said d'Haussy in an exclusive interview with China Daily.
He said that Hong Kong is a melting pot of local companies, Chinese companies domestic and foreign companies. "Hong Kong brings greater exposure to international finance and the global market to Chinese mainland companies, the place is really good for competition, creativity and innovation."
According to Haussy, many Chinese continental technology companies use Hong Kong to start their business. international operations. He cited Alibaba, Tencent and Huawei as examples.
The policies of the local stock exchange on initial public offers allow technology companies that have shares with different voting rights to become public in Hong Kong. This will probably push more Chinese Mainland companies from the New Economy sectors to list in Hong Kong. For example, on July 9, the most important technology Xiaomi Corp is listed in Hong Kong, he said.
Hong Kong promised full support to the fintech sector and launched relevant policies to attract professional talents from mainland China, said Haussy
Visas and work permits for non-local professionals hired by Hong Kong technology companies are released in just two weeks, he said.
In addition, Hong Kong is building infrastructure such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge and high-speed rail links to the mainland, to deepen cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong fintech sectors, he said.
In 2016, Invest Hong Kong set up a fintech team to encourage leading fintech companies, entrepreneurs, investors, and startup accelerators from mainland China and overseas to establish or expand business operations in Hong Kong.
Official data showed that investments in Hong Kong's fintech companies more than doubled to $ 546 million in 2017 from $ 216 million in 20 to 16, anticipating Singapore and Australia.
In 2017, global investments in fintech companies reached an all-time high of $ 27.4 billion, up 18% from the previous year
Payments for mobile devices are still rising in Hong Kong, in contrast to mainland China, where they are used to pay off bills in all kinds of daily transactions.
Both Alipay and WeChat Pay, which lead mobile payments on the continent, entered Hong Kong last year and intensified the market
of Haussy said that Hong Kong residents have become accustomed to use the Octopus card, a contactless card with memorized values that provides customers with an easy, safe and secure way to pay.
They could use Octopus cards to travel, shop and dine without the hassle of cash, so it is difficult to change the payment habits of local residents, according to Haussy.
However, Tim Lee, founder and CEO of QFPay, a Beijing-based longtime e-payment startup, a longtime partner of Alipay, said the Hong Kong s resident are ready to embrace the new technology. This should boost the city's digital payment platforms.
d & # 39; Haussy has a suggestion for Hong Kong companies seeking to expand into the mainland. "Leave from Shenzhen," he said.
Prior to joining Invest Hong Kong, Haussy collected 13 years of experience in the private sector of Hong Kong, after having founded his company. He has also held a number of managerial roles elsewhere.
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