Hong Kong Exchanges (0388.HK): HK five-year plan supportive of HKEX multi-asset strategy

HK Chief Executive John Lee delivered the 2026 annual Policy Address and HK's first five-year plan on Sept 16. The five-year plan included a road map to enhance HK's status as an international financial center, with policy priorities ranging from promoting HK's role as a global offshore RMB business hub, enhancing equity and bond markets, developing a commodity trading ecosystem, promoting finance plus technological innovation, and strengthening financial risk prevention. We believe the road map is supportive of HKEX's strategic goal of developing a multi-asset ecosystem, while plans to improve connectivity between mainland enterprises and international capital should lead to an increase in product offering and liquidity in the HK market. For HKEX, we continue to see expanding FIC product offerings as the next leg of the growth engine, benefiting from the push for RMB internationalization. Following the five-year plan, the 2026 Policy Address laid out near-term initiatives across cash