MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Cantonese): Thank you, President. Point (4) of the main reply mentioned expanding the business coverage of Hong Kong’s financial institutions in Qianhai and this will benefit banks, insurance institutions, etc. I would like to find out more about the current progress of the development of one of the major pilot projects for the establishment of insurance after-sales service centres in Qianhai. Secondly, what is the progress in extending the Insurance Connect initiative to most insurance products?
SECRETARY FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES AND THE TREASURY (in Cantonese): Thank you, President. It is very appropriate for Mr CHAN to raise this supplementary question because the insurance industry engaged in risk management business has always been a crucial part of the entire financial sector, and we have been emphasizing how we can assist in enhancing its connectivity and cooperation with the Mainland.
Specifically, Mr CHAN has just proposed two concrete projects, and the first project is related to insurance after-sales service centres. In this respect, we have been communicating with Beijing, Guangdong and Qianhai in Shenzhen without interruption, with a view to expeditiously promoting the implementation of the related work in Mainland cities, including Qianhai and Nansha. While we are communicating with the Mainland regulatory authorities, we are also having uninterrupted communications with the local industry, hoping that the relevant measures can better meet the needs of the industry when they are introduced in the future. We are continuously following up on the establishment of insurance after-sales service centres. This is the first aspect.
Secondly, Mr CHAN has mentioned another specific project, the Insurance Connect initiative, just now. For this project, we hope to accumulate experience after the expeditious establishment of insurance after-sales service centres so that we can quickly come up with further plans and ideas. As we all know, the nature of the Insurance Connect initiative is different from that of insurance after-sales service centres in various aspects because insurance after-sales service centres do not involve cross-boundary capital while the Insurance Connect initiative involves cross-boundary sales, which has a wider scope such as cross-boundary regulation or capital flow in other areas. So, the Insurance Connect initiative is more complicated and has more points to be considered as compared with insurance after-sales service centres. Even so, we want to combine the experience we gained in the planning process of insurance after-sales service centres with the experience we gained in the Wealth Management Connect to find out if any aspects can be implemented under the Insurance Connect initiative and if any breakthroughs can be made.
Therefore, Mr CHAN can rest assured that these two projects have always been on our agenda but as I said in my main reply just now, we will announce the implementation details of the policy measures concerned as soon as they are ready, and we will expeditiously meet the demands of the industry and implement the desired projects mentioned by Mr CHAN. Thank you, President.