French investors are warming to Hong Kong again, the city’s finance chief has said, citing a “marked difference” in local perceptions compared with his last visit to Paris two years ago.

The shift is driven by Hong Kong’s strong market performance and an improved geopolitical situation, especially following US President Donald Trump’s recent visit to Beijing, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po told the South China Morning Post on the sidelines of a Paris ministerial conference on terrorism financing.

“Two years ago they were still sceptical … they harboured some doubt as to how Hong Kong would rise as an international financial centre after Covid-19,” Chan said, adding that the geopolitical situation at the time was also “quite tense”.

Chan said the atmosphere had since improved significantly, citing Trump’s recent visit to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping as having generated “a lot of positive sentiment”.

“But over and above that, indeed, our financial market over the past two years has been doing very well,” he said, adding that some French businessmen with operations in Hong Kong had told him that they had two good years in terms of operating profit.

Hong Kong’s stock market rose 28 per cent in 2025, and the IMF and two major credit rating agencies have recently given positive assessments of the city’s economic and fiscal policies, according to Chan’s office.

“The perception and the true feeling about the vibrancy of Hong Kong, indeed, mark the difference.”