Hong Kong should seek to assert itself as the premier international financial centre of East Asia, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen says.
'My ambition is not Hong Kong as an international financial centre for China but as the international financial centre for the East Asia time zone,' he said in an interview at Government House.
The chief executive said the city was moving in the right direction to achieve his ambition, with the support of Beijing.
'We are on a par with New York serving America and London serving Europe. We have started the ball rolling. I've got sympathetic ears in Beijing because this is a really win-win situation for the mainland and for Hong Kong,' he said.
It would take another one or two decades, he estimates, for Hong Kong's stock markets to rival New York's and London's in breadth and turnover.
He said Hong Kong had to keep its focus and grab opportunities in a timely manner. 'This is a competitive time - a critical time in which we must maintain our premier position.'
