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Beijing’s handover anniversary policy gift to Hong Kong? It could be a ‘Reit Connect’
Previous July 1 anniversaries have delivered financial policy changes, and markets anticipate expanded cross-border access this year
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Themis QiPublished: 9:00am, 29 Jun 2026
Hong Kong is seizing every opportunity to consolidate its role as a global financial centre, leveraging unique advantages and national strategies. In the third piece of our miniseries focusing on the city’s financial industry ahead of the handover anniversary, we examine the likelihood of attainable measures, such as a “Reit Connect”, being granted.
As Hong Kong marks the 29th anniversary of the handover, the city’s finance sector is again watching closely for policy “gifts” from Beijing to reinforce its role as a bridge between mainland China and global markets.
In past years, major initiatives were unveiled just before July 1. In 2012 and 2022, the central government rolled out 14 finance-related measures spanning cross-border business, offshore yuan, overseas initial public offerings (IPOs), and the expansion of a cross-border trading scheme to exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
This year, anticipation centres on the long-discussed inclusion of real estate investment trusts (Reits) in the connect programme, the cross-border channel linking investors on the mainland and in Hong Kong.
“The inclusion of Reits would represent another meaningful step in the continued expansion of Hong Kong-mainland market connectivity,” said Edward Au Chung-hing, southern region managing partner at Deloitte China.
Given previous signals from regulators, Au projected the switch could be flipped in the coming quarters, stretching into early 2027.
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