[Monthly Report] HKSAR Government Releases First Five‑Year Plan and 2026 Policy Address, Outlining Medium‑ and Long‑term Roadmap for Green and Sustainable Finance

HKSAR Government Releases First Five‑Year Plan and 2026 Policy Address, Outlining Medium‑ and Long‑term Roadmap for Green and Sustainable Finance

Hong Kong, 16 September 2026 – Mr John Lee, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), unveiled The First Five‑Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2026‑2030) (hereinafter the Five‑Year Plan) and delivered the Chief Executive’s 2026 Policy Address (hereinafter the Policy Address) on the same occasion. Aligned with the timeframe of the national 15th Five‑Year Plan, the two documents set out the blueprint and implementation measures for Hong Kong’s green and sustainable finance, consolidating Hong Kong’s position as an international hub connecting mainland China’s green initiatives with global green capital.

As Hong Kong’s maiden five‑year development blueprint since its return to the motherland, the Five‑Year Plan puts forward the “Finance + Green Development” strategic direction to accelerate the growth of green and sustainable finance. It advances the development of an international carbon market, supports the low‑carbon transition of key national sectors including industry, transport and energy, and facilitates the orderly “going‑global” of green industries. Three priorities are spelt out in the Five‑Year Plan: first, to press ahead with building an international carbon market and channel capital towards sustainable investments; second, to strengthen disclosure regimes and the sustainable‑finance ecosystem, raising market capacity and expertise in green and transition finance; third, to foster cross‑border market collaboration and innovation, enabling green and sustainable projects to efficiently access international capital and contributing to global sustainable‑development goals. In the chapter on deepening the development of the Guangdong‑Hong Kong‑Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), the Five‑Year Plan proposes to explore cooperation in green finance, sustainable investment and fintech, advance a GBA carbon market and green‑finance ecosystem, and support the development of the international carbon market.

Building on the directions of the Five‑Year Plan, the section on “Development of Green and Sustainable Finance” in the Policy Address sets forth concrete annual deliverables. According to the Policy Address, green and sustainable bonds arranged in Hong Kong accounted for around 40% of Asia’s total issuance volume in 2025. The Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China also issued RMB‑denominated green sovereign bonds in Hong Kong for the first time in 2026. To further refine the sustainable‑finance ecosystem, the HKSAR Government will take the following actions: (1) Mandate large public‑interest entities to fully adopt the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards by 2028 to enhance market‑disclosure quality; (2) Launch the Green Stock Certification Scheme by the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) to raise market visibility of qualified green‑security issuers, while the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) will roll out new pilot use‑cases for the Hong Kong Sustainable Finance Classification Catalogue; (3) Explore Hong Kong’s participation in cross‑border carbon trading via HKEX’s Core Climate platform and the Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency (HKQAA), supporting the development of a more influential national international carbon market; (4) Continue to hold the Hong Kong Green Week to promote Hong Kong’s leading status as a sustainable‑finance hub. In addition, the Policy Address introduces measures for fixed‑income‑market development, including regular issuance of digital bonds, piloting tokenised Exchange Fund Bills, and promoting innovations in tokenised bonds. These initiatives underpin the infrastructure for green and sustainable financing.

Hong Kong’s first‑ever five‑year plan represents a strategic blueprint for proactively aligning with the national 15th Five‑Year Plan. The 2026 Policy Address, by contrast, serves as the concrete action agenda for delivering the five‑year‑plan objectives. It captures superimposed opportunities arising from national and global trends and outlines policy priorities and major projects in light of economic outlooks and evolving conditions. The two documents are coherent and closely inter‑related.

The concurrent release of the Five‑Year Plan and the Policy Address marks a new phase for Hong Kong’s sustainable‑finance development: moving beyond policy‑led voluntary pilots toward institutionalised, standardised and internationalised development. By closely dovetailing Hong Kong’s first five‑year plan with the national 15th Five‑Year Plan, Hong Kong demonstrates its unique hub role in supporting China’s national green‑and‑low‑carbon transition. It also delivers an institutional channel with high certainty and transparency for global capital to engage in sustainable investment in China and across Asia.

Reference:

全文 | 香港特別行政區經濟和社會發展第一個五年規劃（2026—2030年）

行政长官2026年施政报告