Financial Secretary Paul Chan on Sunday said a new list of strategic enterprises would be announced next month, which includes more than 10 companies with over half in the fields of artificial intelligence and big data.

Writing on his weekly blog, Chan said these companies come from the mainland, the US and Europe, and some are leaders in their fields.

He also noted the market was doing better heading into the fourth quarter, with the Hang Seng Index reaching its highest in about 2.5 years.

"It can be expected that the market recovery and investors' cautious optimism about the future will drive many companies to speed up their listing process in Hong Kong, including many tech startups," Chan wrote.

"At the same time, this will also encourage more enterprises to set up offices in Hong Kong. This trend also shows that the SAR government's efforts to enhance market competitiveness are starting to pay off."

The finance minister also said he would lead a delegation of financial and tech leaders to the Middle East at the end of this month to promote Hong Kong's strengths under the One Country, Two Systems principle.