Christopher Hui Ching-yu (; born 1976) is a Hong Kong politician and government official. Since 2020, he has been
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, head of Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau of the Hong Kong Government, is responsible for the monitoring of financial services sector and maintaining the assets of the government. ...
.
Biography
Hui is the son of a veteran pro-Beijinger Hui Wang-chuen who is a leader of one of the major Fujian associations in Hong Kong. His sister,
Florence Hui Florence Hui Hiu-fai, SBS (; 6 July 1974 – 3 December 2018) was one of the undersecretaries appointed by the Government of Hong Kong. She served as the Undersecretary for Home Affairs from 2008 to 2017.
Education
Hui held a Bachelor degree in ...
, was an
Under Secretary for Home Affairs. His wife, Rita Chan, is a managing director at
J.P. Morgan.
Hui received his bachelor's degree from the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
, and his Master of Business Administration from the
INSEAD
INSEAD, a contraction of "Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" () is a non-profit business school that maintains campuses in Europe ( Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE), and North America (San ...
graduate business school.
In 1999, he was admitted as an Administrative Officer in the Government and served in the Economic Development Branch, the
and the Home Affairs Department until 2003.
After he left the government in 2003, Hui worked in the banking sector and became a managing director at
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX; , also 香港交易所 or 港交所 ) operates a range of equity, commodity, fixed income and currency markets through its wholly owned subsidiaries The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (SEHK ...
for 12 years. He was also as a director of strategic development at
New World Development
New World Development Company Limited (NWD), is a Hong Kong-based company focused on property developer in Hong Kong, property, hotels, infrastructure and services and department stores. It was established on 29 May 1970 by Cheng Yu-tung. The ...
, which was responsible for the development of the
Greater Bay Area, the national plan to integrate Hong Kong with Macau, and other nine Guangdong cities, as a financial and technological powerhouse.
In 2008, he joined the
(DAB), the largest
pro-Beijing
The pro-Beijing camp, pro-establishment camp, pro-government camp or pro-China camp refers to a political alignment in Hong Kong which generally supports the policies of the Beijing central government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) t ...
party in Hong Kong, and has served on its standing committee. In 2014, he was appointed by
Chief Executive
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
Leung Chun-ying
Leung Chun-ying (; born 12 August 1954), also known as CY Leung, is a Hong Kong politician and chartered surveyor, who has served as vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference since Mar ...
as a council member of
City University of Hong Kong
City University of Hong Kong (CityU) is a world-class public research university located in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1984 as City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and became a fully accredited university in 1994. Currently, CityU is ...
.
In 2019, Hui was appointed executive director of the Hong Kong
Financial Services Development Council.
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
In April 2020,
Chief Executive
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
Carrie Lam
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor ( Cheng; ; born 13 May 1957) is a retired Hong Kong politician who served as the 4th Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022. She served as Chief Secretary for Administration between 2012 and 2017 and Secr ...
appointed Hui
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, head of Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau of the Hong Kong Government, is responsible for the monitoring of financial services sector and maintaining the assets of the government. ...
, one of the principal officials of the Hong Kong government, even as he remained a member of the DAB.
Private Equity Market
Hui proposed a “3-Step” Strategy to further enhance Hong Kong's status as the leading private equity hub. As the first step, a new Limited Partnership Fund regime was introduced for investment funds to be registered in Hong Kong in the form of limited partnerships. In a year's time, over 300 funds have registered under the regime.
The second step is the passing of a legislation offering tax concession for carried interest issued by PE funds operating in Hong Kong, and the final step is to introduce a redomiciliation mechanism such that offshore funds may relocate to Hong Kong.
Hui is confident that the “3-Step” Strategy would greatly enhance the competitiveness of the Hong Kong market, and promote Hong Kong as one of the top global destinations for operation of PE and VC funds.
Financial technology
To enrich Hong Kong's
Fintech
Fintech, a portmanteau of "financial technology", refers to firms using new technology to compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services. Artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, and big data are r ...
talent pool, Hui announced the launch of
Fintech Anti-epidemic Scheme for Talent Development in July 2020, creating 1,000 full-time job positions in Hong Kong Fintech companies.
During the Hong Kong FinTech Week 2020, he announced the launch of the
Fintech Proof-of-Concept Subsidy Scheme, with a view to encouraging traditional financial institutions to partner with Fintech companies and initiate Proof-of-Concept projects on innovative FinTech solutions. Hui said he sees opportunities in solutions that can facilitate development of WealthTech, RegTech, InsurTech and payment systems, etc.
Further to a market consultation, Hui proposed that a licensing regime to be established for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) in Hong Kong. Hui is of view that, while protecting investors and safeguarding against money laundering and terrorist financing are the key objectives, the regime will also facilitate the development of a market for virtual assets in Hong Kong.
Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit
On 30 October 2022, Hui said that the
Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit will show the world that Hong Kong is "open for business" and that "one of our advantages is that we are open to the world" despite guests to the Summit being allowed to eat at restaurants during their first 3 days in Hong Kong, when normal visitors to Hong Kong are not allowed to.
Crowdfunding
In December 2022, Hui proposed new legislation to regulate all crowdfunding activities, and said some people had used crowdfunding to endanger national security.
Controversies
In February 2021, Hui said that the government would take proactive measures to counter American sanctions under
Executive Order 13936
Executive Order 13936, entitled "The President’s Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization", is an executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump on July 14, 2020. On the same day Trump had signed into law Hong Kong Autonomy Act, one ...
, but did not give clear details on how he would do so.
In April 2021, Hui proposed making certain information in the
Companies Registry hidden, a move which
David Webb said would be detrimental and "How ironic that the government passed a law in 2019 prohibiting face masks in public assemblies so that people could be identifiable, arguably deterring them from committing crimes, but now wants to mask the identities of people trading with the privilege of limited liability, incentivising fraud and corruption."
On 5 January 2022,
Carrie Lam
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor ( Cheng; ; born 13 May 1957) is a retired Hong Kong politician who served as the 4th Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022. She served as Chief Secretary for Administration between 2012 and 2017 and Secr ...
announced new warnings and restrictions against social gathering due to potential
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
outbreaks. One day later, it was discovered that Hui attended a
birthday party hosted by Witman Hung Wai-man, with 222 guests.
At least one guest tested positive with COVID-19, causing all guests to be quarantined.
He was ordered to take leave until 24 January.
In April 2023, protestors rallied against Hui when he visited the UK to meet with British ministers, with one protestor saying "The
hinese Communist Partys human rights violators have no place in British business, government or culture."
Personal life
Hui and his family own 7 registrable properties, including 4 flats with 3 parking spaces in Hong Kong, 1 in Singapore, 1 in Australia, and 1 in Hangzhou.
In November 2022, Hui was tested positive for
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hui, Christopher
Living people
1976 births
Hong Kong civil servants
Government officials of Hong Kong
Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong
Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong politicians
Alumni of the University of Oxford
INSEAD alumni
New World Development people