Who’s Funding the Asian Century?
Hong Kong listing reforms and surging domestic deposits, bank, and trade data show a regional financial system funding its own future. The post Who’s Funding the Asian Century? appeared first on Global Finance Magazine .
The International Monetary Fund and World Bank will convene their annual meetings in Bangkok this October, marking the first time the joint gathering returns to the city in 35 years. During these meetings, Asia will be hailed as the "driving force" of the global economy, accounting for a significant portion of global GDP, public equity market capitalization, listed companies, and venture capital activity.
The crucial question now is whether Asia can finance its growth independently or if it remains reliant on Western capital, listings, and liquidity.
Experts reveal that Asia's financial sector has matured over the last few decades, transitioning away from the heavy dependence on foreign investment seen in the Asian Tigers era of the 1960s-1990s. Alex Ibrahim, a former corporate CFO of a Seoul-based travel technology company, notes that while capital once flowed from the U.S. into Asian economies, local financial infrastructure has now developed robustly.
Marc Iyeki, a former NYSE Asia-Pacific listing sector leader, emphasizes that decision-making has shifted to regional private equity and venture firms, with professionals trained at global firms returning to Asia to make calls.
The performance of Asia's own exchanges reflects this shift. Hong Kong's equity market, for example, saw a rebound in 2025 from the post-pandemic slowdown, with average daily turnover nearly three and a half times higher than in 2016. Japan's Tokyo Stock Exchange also experienced steady growth, with average daily trading value for domestic common stocks increasing significantly over the same period.
The region's ability to attract and handle record IPO volumes is partly due to infrastructure built after earlier setbacks, such as when Alibaba was initially rejected for a Hong Kong listing in 2013.
A key player in developing this financial infrastructure is Larry Li, a Hong Kong-based fintech founder. He developed Stock Connect, a market access program linking mainland China and Hong Kong stock markets, which has become a crucial cross-border equity trading link. Li highlights the region's token economy as a driving force for market infrastructure upgrades, global capital attraction, and government support for growth.
He points to the co-opetition between the banking industry and fintech enterprises, noting that consumers largely rely on fintech-developed super apps, while banks focus on regulated back-end functions like cross-border settlement and compliance. China's financial system, led by state-directed banks, continues to grow rapidly, with S&P Global Market Intelligence reporting a 16% year-over-year asset growth for China's "big four" banks in US-dollar terms as of the end of 2025.
Written by urgent.news from Global Finance's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
