Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing : HKEX Connect Hall Inaugurated as Trading in Year of Dog Begins

• New Hall exemplifies HKEX's mission in connecting global markets and forging lasting relationships
• Three key principles behind the Hall: Central, Community and Creativity
• Hall is home to HKEX Museum of Finance and has over 30,000 square feet for conferences and other events

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) on Tuesday celebrated the Year of the Dog's first trading day with the unveiling of the HKEX Connect Hall, an iconic venue for Hong Kong's financial community that exemplifies HKEX's mission in connecting global markets and forging lasting relationships.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam officiated at the opening ceremony, and after heralding the start of trading in the Lunar New Year with a strike of the gong, received a tour of the dynamic multi-functional area, accompanied by HKEX Chairman C K Chow and Chief Executive Charles Li. The event was attended by several hundred guests, including former floor traders and other market participants.

The launch of the Connect Hall, which features over 30,000 square feet for events such as exhibitions, conferences, and ceremonies, follows a months-long transformation process of the city's most recognisable financial landmark, first opened in 1986 as the Stock Exchange's trading hall. The space was closed for renovations after floor trading in Hong Kong's securities market ended on 27 October 2017.

'The opening of the HKEX Connect Hall marks a new chapter for Hong Kong's financial industry, as we devote more efforts to promote the role of Hong Kong's professional and excellent financial services industry in helping even more overseas and Mainland Chinese companies contribute to economic development,' said Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

'The aim of the HKEX Connect Hall is to create a versatile and instantly recognisable financial showcase for promoting the Hong Kong financial market,' said HKEX Chairman C K Chow. 'For decades, this hall linked traders and brokers. Now, it will become an intersection for finance industry professionals and entrepreneurs to gather, to innovate, and to help chart the next chapters of Hong Kong's financial markets.'

HKEX Chief Executive Charles Li said: 'Our Connect Hall is built on three key themes: Central, Community, and Creativity. It is a centrally-located venue at the heart of our financial hub that will help us to better serve our local community through investor education initiatives, exhibits and public seminars. We will also spur creativity by encouraging entrepreneurship and capital markets innovation through events at the hall that include matching new economy startups with potential investors,' said Mr Li.

During her visit to the HKEX Connect Hall, Mrs Lam received a preview of the HKEX Museum of Finance, which will take visitors on a journey through Hong Kong's financial coming of age. 'Building a museum is a multi-year project that involves extensive research to continuously update and enrich its content. The exhibits on initial display at the HKEX Museum of Finance, when it opens in late March, will form the foundation of this long-term effort. We invite members of the Hong Kong financial community to help further develop our museum with ideas, and to consider loaning us articles of historical significance,' Li added.

For more details of the HKEX Connect Hall, please refer to the Fact Sheet.

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HKEX Chairman C K Chow welcomes guests to mark the opening of HKEX Connect Hall and the first trading day of the Year oftheDog.

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Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam delivers her remarks to celebrate the opening of HKEX Connect Hall and the first trading day of the Lunar New Year.

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HKEX Chief Executive Charles Li explains the role of HKEX Connect Hall.

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Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (fourth from right) and HKEX Chairman C K Chow (third from left) open securities trading in Hong Kong on the first day of the Lunar New Year by striking a gong.

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Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (center); HKEX Chairman C K Chow (third from left); Xie Feng, Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in HKSAR (second from right); Financial Secretary Paul Chan (second from left); Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau (first from right); HKEX Chief Executive Charles Li (third from right) and Keith Lui, Executive Director of Supervision of Markets of the Securities and Futures Commission (first from left) pose for photographs with lion dancers before a lion dance performance and eye-dotting ceremony.

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