Paul Chan: Hong Kong will strive to become a core hub for the application and large-scale development of AI and Web3 technologies

Foresight News reported that Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan delivered the opening speech at the 2026 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival, stating, "The rise of AI agents this year marks another noteworthy milestone. The intersection of AI and technologies such as Web3 is changing the game. Their integration will elevate transactional efficiency to a new level and extend across a wider range of business areas, from finance and trade to wealth management, supply chain operations, and logistics. This combination will generate numerous new opportunities, but will also pose a series of challenges, for example with infrastructure payment and settlement systems and regulatory rules.

Hong Kong's approach to Web3 and AI has always been clear: maintaining consistency under the One Country, Two Systems principle. As an international financial center, Hong Kong embraces innovation, and stablecoins, tokenization, and AI are becoming integral components of the mainstream future. Hong Kong regulators bear a dual mission of prudent supervision and promoting market development, which requires us to encourage and support more innovative applications, improve our institutional framework based on continuous learning, and keep pace with the times with an open and balanced attitude. I am convinced that Hong Kong will undoubtedly become a key hub where the new generation of technologies will flourish, be widely adopted, and achieve responsible large-scale development."