Beijing’s Point Person for Finance in Hong Kong to Leave Post
(Bloomberg) — China’s chief financial envoy to Hong Kong is set to leave the post in just over a year, completing a closely watched term in the industry, according to people familiar with the matter.
Qi Bin, 57, sent farewell messages to close contacts in Hong Kong’s financial circles about his recent dismissal, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is confidential.
He is expected to be deputy director of an economic committee within the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the country’s leading political advisory organization, the South China Morning Post reported, citing unidentified people.
As of 8 a.m. local time on Monday morning, Qi was still listed as one of five deputy directors of China’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong under Director Zhou Ji.
Zhang Yong, vice president of Cosco Shipping, is replacing Qi as deputy manager of the Hong Kong liaison office, the Hong Kong Economic Times reported.
The China Liaison Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Qi leaves office after just over a year since his start in November 2024. Qi, widely seen as Beijing’s main financial expert in Hong Kong, actively solicited comments from bankers and lawyers in general and also laid out detailed proposals for reviving the Hong Kong market from the bottom.
His assertive and effective style unnerved some local officials. Even those who agreed with Qi’s ideas worried that they were losing authority over the city’s most important industry.
Before taking on the political post at the Liaison Office, Qi was deputy chief investment officer of China Investment Corp., the country’s sovereign wealth fund. The $3.6 trillion fund had the authority to expand its direct investments abroad.
He had previously led the China Securities Regulatory Commission team to negotiate the Stock Connectivity framework between the exchange in Hong Kong and exchanges in Mainland China, before its launch in 2014. Currently, an average of 221 billion yuan of Chinese stocks and HK$98 billion worth of Hong Kong stocks are traded on the channel per day.
Originally a biophysics student, Qi changed course and studied for an MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, the center of free market economics. He translated three editions of the book “The Great Game: The Emergence of Wall Street as a World Power” by US historian John Steele Gordon.
In an interview with the school’s magazine, he said he was of the view that open markets could be reconciled with China’s planned economy, noting that regulations exist in most countries.
“There is no such thing as a completely free economy,” he said. “It’s always about degrees of freedom.”
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