Global bankers are all “very pro-China”, UBS chair Colm Kelleher said at a financial forum in Hong Kong, where Chinese officials sought to woo rattled international investors on Wednesday.Hong Kong is seeking to boost its status as an international financial centre at the conference, after a clampdown on civil society and years of strict pandemic restrictions triggered an exodus and raised concerns the city was losing business to rival Asian hub Singapore.
Chinese officials used pre-recorded video interviews to reassure international investors of the country’s economic strength as it battles a property sector crisis and flagging growth induced by its strict zero-Covid policy.
“We’re not reading the American press, we all buy the [China] story,” said Kelleher, chair of the world’s biggest wealth manager.