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Prof. Zhiwu Chen, Chair Professor of Finance at HKU Business School, commented, "In China, government policy is always crucial for private companies, both on their way up and now on their way down. Now, many private businesspeople understand that both economic and political reforms have to go hand in hand; without one, the other cannot sustain in the long run."

Prof. Zhiwu Chen, Chair Professor of Finance at HKU Business School, believes that Hong Kong's geopolitical neutrality is a favourable factor, "China can still rely on Hong Kong as the intermediary." In 2022, 72.56% of China's offshore investment came from Hong Kong. Prof. Zhenhua Mao, Professor of Practice at HKU Business School, highlighted Hong Kong's English-speaking environment and common law system are the city’s unique advantages in attracting foreign investment to China. However, he added that more research is needed on the challenges faced by venture capital and private equity firms investing in the country.

Geopolitical risks have prompted Asian family offices to switch their investment focus. “Many billionaires have moved their family offices to Hong Kong, so they can manage their investments globally," said Prof. Zhiwu Chen, Chair Professor of Finance at HKU Business School. The number of family offices in Hong Kong has surged to more than 2,700, which is nearly 2.5 times more than Singapore.

Prof. Zhiwu Chen, Chair Professor of Finance at HKU Business School, acknowledges this long-standing shift, stating, "This has been going on for at least about 8-10 years," referring to an industrial policy factoring in "war preparation."

Prof. Zhiwu Chen, Chair Professor of Finance at HKU Business School, emphasises that the key concern is to maintain confidence in the market. While political measures to boost the economy may be well-intentioned, their effectiveness can vary depending on the specific context, economic conditions, and implementation.

Prof. Zhiwu Chen, Chair Professor of Finance at HKU Business School, commented that gold represented the only safe asset for Chinese consumers to protect their wealth against domestic inflation, asset price declines, as well as uncertainties in the global landscape.

“The November election pressure may force Biden to be more aggressive on the US-China trade front, as this is one issue that American politicians can win easy points,” said Chen Zhiwu, the chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong, after Yellen and her Chinese counterparts failed to address some major issues.

To lessen market volatility, Chinese regulators began implementing measures that affected quantitative trading strategies. These included rejecting requests to short sell, conducting on-site reviews of trading operations, and temporarily halting transaction capabilities for some firms. The restrictions had a negative impact on funds that relied on algorithmic models as they prevented executions, recalled loaned shares, and introduced unpredictability that computer systems had not anticipated. As a result, these funds experienced performance disparities when compared to wider benchmarks. Prof. Zhiwu Chen, Chair Professor of Finance at HKU Business School, shared his views on A-share market regulation in an interview with Bloomberg.

Chen Zhiwu, chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong, compared China’s new housing strategy to the way Beijing uses its so-called “national team” of state funds to buy equities to try to prop up the depressed stock market. Such efforts have often failed to sustainably bolster the market. Using government money to buy up distressed real estate would be no different, he said, given the country’s demographic challenges and supply glut. Government interventions could also raise uncomfortable questions about social fairness, he said. Buying properties from existing homeowners or developers when the market is weak would amount to using national resources to subsidize owners who have the flexibility to sell, when others don’t, he said. “It turns into an issue of wealth distribution,” he said. “Not everyone in China owns multiple apartments, nor are they ready to sell.”