Hong Kong’s market surge drives ‘fear of missing out’ among French investors

French investors are warming to Hong Kong again, the city’s finance chief has said, citing a “marked difference” in local perceptions compared with his last visit to Paris two years ago. The shift is driven by Hong Kong’s strong market performance and an improved geopolitical situation, especially following US President Donald Trump’s recent visit to Beijing, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po told the South China Morning Post on the sidelines of a Paris ministerial conference on terrorism financing. “Two years ago they were still sceptical … they harboured some doubt as to how Hong Kong would rise as an international financial centre after Covid-19,” Chan said, adding that the geopolitical situation at the time was also “quite tense”. Chan said the atmosphere had since improved significantly, citing Trump’s recent visit to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping as having generated “a lot of positive sentiment”. “But over and above that, indeed, our financial market over the past two years has been doing very well,” he said, adding that some French businessmen with operations in Hong Kong had told him that they had two good years in terms of operating profit. Hong Kong’s stock market rose 28 per cent in 2025, and the IMF and two major credit rating agencies have recently given positive assessments of the city’s economic and fiscal policies, according to Chan’s office. “The perception and the true feeling about the vibrancy of Hong Kong, indeed, mark the difference.” In fact, he said some investors now had “a fear of missing out”. “They realise perhaps they might have under-allocated to the market, so they need to catch up,” he said. Attracting investment to Hong Kong through meetings with the investment and business sectors is a main task of Chan’s trip to Paris. The city also had a unique role to play as a “converter and connector” between Chinese companies expanding into Europe and European firms seeking access to the Chinese market, Chan said, helping both sides navigate each other’s regulatory standards. He also attended the conference to showcase the city’s commitment to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing. Hong Kong has passed a series of laws to meet international anti-money laundering standards, with rules already in place governing stablecoin issuers and cryptocurrency trading platforms. The city is now moving to extend that framework to cover over-the-counter digital asset transactions and strengthen protections for retail investors. Besides the conference, Chan met on Tuesday with OECD Deputy Secretary General Fabrizia Lapecorella and Financial Action Task Force President Elisa de Anda Madrazo, discussing Hong Kong’s economic development and international cooperation on tax compliance and anti-money laundering, the SCMP has learned. He is set to leave for Brussels on Wednesday before wrapping up his five-day Europe tour in Zurich.