Deloitte China announces HK LEAP strategy with HKD500 million investment to accelerate Hong Kong's economic transformation

To deepen its long-term commitment to the Hong Kong market, Deloitte China officially launched its strategic initiative—HK LEAP—underpinned by a HKD500 million investment over the next four years to drive the city's diversified economic development and strengthen its position as a talent hub through the creation of around 1,000 employment opportunities.

As part of the HK LEAP strategy, Deloitte China has released its 2025 Hong Kong Economic Outlook White Paper at a press conference held alongside the firm's National Partners Conference. Titled Building Strength for New Breakthroughs: Hong Kong’s Economic Transformation and Future Opportunities, the report analyses current challenges facing the local economy in areas such as geopolitical shifts, industrial structure, and talent supply, while outlining four strategic growth engines for the city's future development: driving financial innovation, expanding Hong Kong's role in supporting Chinese enterprises' global expansion, bolstering regional innovation and technology (I&T) collaboration, and accelerating the green transition toward a low-carbon, sustainable economy. With a clear roadmap to power Hong Kong's next leap forward, the report reflects Deloitte China's strong confidence in the long-term development of both the Mainland and Hong Kong.

Deloitte China CEO Dora Liu says, "Driven by the 15th Five-Year Plan, China is accelerating innovation-driven development, technological self-reliance, and industrial modernization. With its unique strengths, Hong Kong stands at the convergence of threefold opportunities: global geopolitical shifts, national strategic priorities, and deeper integration within the Greater Bay Area. Its role as a 'super connector' and 'super value-adder' between the Mainland and global markets is becoming increasingly vital."

With the launch of HK LEAP, Deloitte China aims to help strengthen Hong Kong's position as an international financial centre and bolster its evolution into a global I&T hub by increasing investment in strategic growth areas such as fintech, capital markets, and AI to inject fresh momentum into regional economic development, adds Dora Liu.

Deloitte China's flagship report sets out four engines for economic transformation

1. Accelerating Fintech Innovation to Upgrade Hong Kong's International Financial Centre

Drawing on its deep capital market foundations and sustained global capital inflows, Hong Kong ranked first globally in IPO fundraising during the first three quarters of 2025. Offshore RMB and green bonds have become key growth drivers, while the city's asset and wealth management sector reached a record high in 2024, ranking second globally and reinforcing its role as Asia's leading private wealth centre. On the other hand, the report highlights ongoing challenges such as heightened geopolitical uncertainty, shortages in multidisciplinary financial talent, and an increasingly complex regulatory landscape shaped by rapid financial innovation.

Deloitte China Southern Region Managing Partner Edward Au says, "The HKSAR Government has set a strong direction with the 2025 Policy Address to reinforce Hong Kong’s position as a global financial centre. The city can deepen global connectivity and attract overseas listings, while capitalising on its role as the world's largest offshore RMB hub to support RMB internationalisation."

To unlock the full potential of the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES), the report recommends broadening the scope of eligible investments to include digital assets and other alternatives asset classes. Furthermore, it proposes a "CIES Connect" investment channel to attract more high-net-worth individuals to Hong Kong, enhancing the city's role as a capital magnet and wealth management hub.

Digital finance is also gaining traction, as reflected in the HKD 26.1 billion in tokenised asset transactions processed by Hong Kong banks in the first half of 2025. From Project Ensemble to Policy Statement 2.0 on the Development of Digital Assets in Hong Kong and the Stablecoins Ordinance, a series of policies have helped shape a robust and innovative digital finance ecosystem.

2. Strengthening Hong Kong as Strategic Gateway for Chinese Enterprises' Global Expansion

Data shows that about 77% of Chinese Mainland enterprises have chosen Hong Kong as their global launchpad. As announced in the Policy Address 2025, the HKSAR Government has established the Task Force on Supporting Mainland Enterprises in Going Global, as a one-stop platform offering tailored support in areas that include capital access, setup support, and partner matching.

Edward Au says, "Deloitte China is honored to be part of the GoGlobal Task Force. As Mainland companies shift toward exporting integrated capabilities such as technology, branding, and management, Hong Kong's edge is increasingly defined by its ability to align specialized resources with enterprise needs and foster partnerships tailored to specific market scenarios."

Mainland enterprises face a range of capital management challenges in their global expansion, including multi-currency operations and exchange rate volatility (82%), local capital controls and profit repatriation challenges (82%), fragmented cash management across overseas subsidiaries and delayed information flow (59%), and compliance pressures from overseas taxation and transfer pricing (41%). With its mature financial system, low-tax environment, and efficient settlement infrastructure, Hong Kong is emerging as an ideal destination for establishing corporate treasury centres.

"With over two decades of experience serving more than 10,000 companies through our China to Global (C2G) team, we recommend that Hong Kong build an integrated global growth service system focused on risk monitoring, early warning, and training to help enterprises build greater resilience in global operations," adds Edward Au.

3. Deepening Cross-Border, Regional Collaboration to Power I&T as New Growth Engine

The Greater Bay Area (GBA) is emerging as a global innovation powerhouse, where Hong Kong contributes world-class research capabilities and capital market, Shenzhen leads in tech-driven entrepreneurship, and Guangzhou excels in industrial application and large-scale commercialisation.

Deloitte China Hong Kong Business Managing Partner Allen Wong says, "Despite its enormous potential, Hong Kong risks falling behind in innovation due to an over-reliance on the services sector and constraints on industrial transformation amid limited land supply and a shortage of talent."

The Hetao Shenzhen–Hong Kong Innovation Co-operation Zone has already attracted over 400 technology enterprises and more than 15,000 research professionals. Meanwhile, the city is accelerating the development of the Northern Metropolis to unlock new land supply for the I&T sector and channel capital into emerging industries.

According to the report, the Northern Metropolis should optimise both its "hard infrastructure" and "soft ecosystem" by ensuring sufficient industrial land and R&D facilities, while improving education, healthcare, and community services to attract and retain top talent.

4. Building a Green Transformation Hub for Transitioning Carbon-Intensive Industries

Across the Chinese Mainland and the broader Asian region, carbon-intensive sectors such as steel, cement, chemicals, and shipping face a projected USD 9 trillion financing gap for low-carbon transition by 2030. Hong Kong is stepping up to close this gap by fostering a green transition ecosystem, including platforms like Core Climate. However, key obstacles like gaps in the sectoral coverage of transition finance standards, limited credibility of carbon assets, and slow commercialisation of green technologies continue to pose high cost and infrastructure investment pressures.

Allen Wong says, "For Hong Kong to become a regional hub for green transition, it must accelerate the development of a robust transition finance framework, including sector-specific standards and dedicated financial products for high-emission industries. It should also promote international mutual recognition of carbon markets and establish a local carbon credit rating system."

With its mature financial infrastructure and proximity to the Mainland's carbon market, Hong Kong is well-positioned to scale up green buildings and green fuels from pilot projects to sustainable operations, establishing a replicable low-carbon industry model.

Deloitte Asia Pacific Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer Thierry Delmarcelle says, "Ongoing shifts in global geopolitics, China's accelerated path toward high-quality development, and a stronger focus of Asia Pacific businesses on innovation and on cross-border opportunities present Hong Kong with a unique opportunity for being the catalyst of the transformation of Asia Pacific economies. This is critical for sustaining Hong Kong's long-term competitiveness. This vision for the city rests on the four growth pillars we describe in our white paper and enables it to foster innovation at scale, to deepen regional connectivity, and to accelerate the development of future-ready industries. Deloitte is fully committed — globally, regionally, and locally — to champion Hong Kong's journey — helping it to shape the next chapter of growth across Asia Pacific and globally."

Click here to read Deloitte's 2025 Hong Kong Economic Outlook White Paper – Building Strength for New Breakthroughs: Hong Kong’s Economic Transformation and Future Opportunities