Lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill to lower the stamp duty for stock trading to 0.1 percent.

The proposal to cut the rate from 0.13 percent was made in last month's Policy Address, as part of efforts to improve market sentiment and increase market competitiveness.

"The vibrancy of the stock market is key to strengthening Hong Kong's role as an international financial centre, maintaining our global competitiveness, and striving the development of the local financial services sector," financial services secretary Christopher Hui said.

The minister told Legco that the change is just one of several ways to make the local bourse more competitive.

His bureau had said that the stamp duty change is expected to cost the government around HK$14.1 billion a year.