Chief Executive John Lee on Monday said that Hong Kong made "unprecedented achievements" in attracting quality firms to the city last year, with the number of foreign and mainland-affiliated companies based in the SAR reaching a record high.

He made the remarks as he delivered a keynote speech at the 19th Asian Financial Forum (AFF) in Wan Chai, where some 3,600 participants gathered to discuss the latest global economic and investment trends, with sessions covering supply chain financing as well as gold exchange.

Lee said the number of firms in Hong Kong that have parent companies overseas or on the mainland reached 11,070 in 2025, which marked an increase of 11 percent year on year.

Robust growth, he added, was seen in the number of firms coming from Singapore, France, Australia, the US and Switzerland, which all increased by 11 percent, while firms from the Asean bloc increased by 10 percent, and the number from the mainland rose by 17 percent.

These firms together hired almost 510,000 people in the city, up three percent from a year earlier, Lee said.

He also said the number of start-ups in Hong Kong rose to a record high, jumping 11 percent from a year earlier to over 5,200 in 2025 and creating some 20,000 jobs, 12 percent more year on year.

"Like our companies, our non-local entrepreneurs come from a large variety of places, with half of them coming mainly from the UK, the US, France and different Asian countries, and the other half from the mainland," he said.

"The encouraging results represent more than a vote of confidence in Hong Kong by these businesses and entrepreneurs, they also mean our solid efforts in facilitating business establishment and operation and in creating an enabling ecosystem for start-ups, are bearing fruit."

Themed "Co-creating New Horizons amid an Evolving Landscape", the AFF this year also features an inaugural Global Business Summit to facilitate financial and industrial cooperation.