Hong Kong is considering launching a new offshore renminbi venture fund to channel capital into cutting-edge technology and emerging industries while also supporting the internationalisation of the yuan, the finance chief has said.

The initiative would align with the nation’s latest five-year plan, which calls on Hong Kong to enhance its role as an international financial hub and expand its offshore renminbi business.

“We are actively considering establishing a brand-new offshore renminbi venture capital fund,” Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po wrote in his weekly blog on Sunday.

“This will help channel and leverage offshore renminbi capital into cutting-edge technology and emerging industries, while supporting the steady development of renminbi internationalisation.”

Such a move sought to build on the growing convergence of artificial intelligence and finance, Chan said.

He highlighted the virtuous cycle in which innovation and technology (I&T) and finance supported each other’s growth and injected momentum into high-quality economic development.