Li Jiachao's 2023 Policy Address points out three major directions for the Web3 community

At 11 o'clock on October 25, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, John Lee Ka-chiu, delivered the Chief Executive's 2023 Policy Address, which content deserves the attention of the Web3 community? This article will sort out the following for you.

(Above, from Yahoo)

I. Implementation of the Capital Investment Entry Scheme

Mr Lee said that eligible investors who have invested more than $30 million in Hong Kong can apply to enter Hong Kong through the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, and eligible investors who have invested in assets (excluding real estate) such as stocks, funds and bonds (excluding real estate) in Hong Kong can apply to come to Hong Kong through the Scheme to enhance the development advantages of Hong Kong's asset and wealth management, finance and related professional services sectors, details to be announced this year. In addition, to alleviate the manpower shortage pressure in the skilled trades, non-resident students of designated full-time Higher Diploma programmes admitted by the Vocational Training Council (VTC) from the 2024/25 academic year onwards can stay in Hong Kong for one year after graduation to seek jobs related to their majors. This arrangement will be reviewed on a trial basis for two years.

Bitkoala Finance Interpretation: The stocks and funds currently listed in Hong Kong also include a number of cryptocurrency funds and ETFs, such as CSOP Bitcoin Futures ETF and Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active ETF, which means that investors can also invest in such products to apply for Hong Kong. It is worth mentioning that as the spot bitcoin price rose above $35,000, the Hong Kong-listed CSOP Bitcoin Futures ETF and Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active ETF both hit new post-listing price highs, both of which rose by more than 15%, of which CSOP Bitcoin Futures ETF hit a high of 14.9 yuan yesterday and finally closed at 14.52 yuan, an increase of 16.72%; The Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active ETF hit a high of 14.28 yuan and finally closed at 13.95 yuan. In addition, CSOP Bitcoin Futures ETF has reached 176 million yuan, exceeding the market value of the ETF by about 158 million yuan.

Establishment of a "Digital Policy Office" to study digital infrastructure**

Mr Lee revealed that Hong Kong will fully promote the digitalisation of government services, make good use of artificial intelligence and open up more government data to promote the digital economy. The Digital Economy Development Committee, chaired by the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, is studying digital infrastructure, cross-border data flow, digital transformation of enterprises and human resources support, and will make recommendations early next year. In addition, the Hong Kong Government will set up a "Digital Policy Office", which will merge the existing Office of the Government Chief Information Officer with the Office of Efficiency Promotion, led by the Digital Policy Commissioner, to formulate digital government, data governance and information technology policies.

Bitkoala Finance Interpretation: Promoting the digital economy has been put on the agenda of the Hong Kong government, and the newly established "Digital Policy Office" may focus on top-level design. In fact, the HKSAR Government announced in 2022 that it would become a global virtual asset trading centre, and on October 31 officially issued the Policy Declaration on the Development of Virtual Assets in Hong Kong, which clarifies the Hong Kong Government's policy stance, guidelines and measures for developing a vibrant virtual asset trading centre and industry ecosystem. With high-quality financial development and an open financial market, Hong Kong's global virtual asset trading center has laid the core positioning of Hong Kong as an international financial center in the national "14th Five-Year Plan" digital economy plan, and also undertakes the important mission of integrating into the overall development of the national digital economy.

3. Continue to cultivate blockchain technology

Mr Lee said that within this year, the Hong Kong government will issue management measures to promote data circulation and ensure data security, and use data-driven development, including the use of blockchain technology to issue and verify a variety of electronic licenses and certificates.

Bitkoala Finance Interpretation: Hong Kong Chief Executive Lee Ka-chiu stressed in his speech at the opening ceremony of the 2023 Digital Economy Summit in April this year that the Hong Kong SAR government will actively promote the development of Hong Kong's virtual asset industry to grasp the development trend of global digital currency and blockchain technology. At present, many leading I&T enterprises and high-tech start-ups are actively contacting the HKSAR Government to consider setting up business in Hong Kong. These companies cover virtual asset exchanges, blockchain infrastructure enterprises, virtual currency wallet and payment companies, and other projects related to Web 3.0, which is believed to help the vigorous development of the Web 3.0 ecosystem. In this context, I believe that Hong Kong will continue to cultivate in the field of blockchain technology.

Summary

The Policy Address is sometimes seen as a "barometer" of the Hong Kong Government's future priorities, with the first Policy Address published in 2022 mentioning preparations for virtual assets and digital Hong Kong dollars, which subsequently ushered in the booming development of Hong Kong's Web 3.0 market.

Today, the pace of Hong Kong's active regulation of the crypto market is still accelerating, and with the release of the Chief Executive's 2023 Policy Address, Hong Kong is bound to use new technology capabilities to export to the world, accelerating the development and transformation process of Web 3.0.