Memorandum of the Roundtable on Financial Capital and Sci-tech Unicorn Parallel Forum
TECHUB NEWS Hong Kong Report｜Reporter Alma Li｜August 25, 2026
Core Perspective: On August 24, the first roundtable of the "Financial Capital and Sci-tech Unicorn Parallel Forum" was held in Hong Kong. Focusing on "the second curve of globalization for tech unicorns," six guests from investment institutions, listed companies, outbound service alliances, and the Hong Kong Investment Promotion Agency formed a consensus: the local business environment is the most underestimated aspect of going global; globalization must be a long-term strategy rather than a temporary choice; competition for Chinese enterprises abroad mostly occurs among their own; banding together for overseas ventures has become a common choice; Hong Kong's value lies not in being a place of registration but in becoming the first stop and model for enterprises going global.
Hosted by the Hong Kong Ta Kung Wen Wei Media Group, the 2026 Global Unicorn Conference opened on August 24 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. As a parallel sub-forum of the conference, the "Financial Capital and Sci-tech Unicorn" parallel forum was held that same afternoon, organized by the Global Value Investment Association and the Hong Kong Private Equity Association. In the first roundtable titled "Starting from Hong Kong: The Second Curve of Globalization for Tech Unicorns," six guests, including Wu Shichun, founding partner of Plum Ventures; Cheng Hanwen, chairman of the Alliance for Chinese Enterprises to Go Global; Liang Hanjing, Global President of Financial Services, Technology and Sustainable Development at the Hong Kong Investment Promotion Agency; Wang Xiaoming, Chairman of Guangzhou New Life Material; Wang Yangbin from Fubo Group; and Lu Yanzhang, Senior Investment Strategist at Avenir Group, discussed common mistakes made by Chinese enterprises going abroad, Hong Kong's role, and how capital evaluates outbound projects. The roundtable was hosted by Yao Hong, President of Tengyun Hong Kong Sci-tech Cluster Accelerator.
The Most Underestimated Aspect of Going Global is "Localization"
The first question was posed to Cheng Hanwen: What do Chinese enterprises most easily underestimate when going abroad for the first time? His answer was the local business environment. Many entrepreneurs assume that local customs, systems, and frameworks are similar to China's, but the systems, legal systems, and taxation vary between countries; "similarity" is often an illusion.
The host then asked another question to Wu Shichun: When faced with two entrepreneurs—one with an impressive international background and the other with strong learning ability and resilience—who would you bet on? Wu Shichun's response was that different industries have varying requirements for globalization capability, but the team must have a real understanding of globalization. He cited three companies invested by Plum Ventures—Niu Electric, LifeFeng, and SanBan—as examples: the companies that succeeded in going abroad share the common trait of treating globalization as a long-term strategy rather than a lifesaving remedy.
Practical Experiences from Two Listed Company Chairpersons
Wang Xiaoming's New Life Materials has a production base in Vietnam. He recalled that the turning point for the company’s overseas factory construction was realizing that it shouldn't seek only convenience—such as merely avoiding tariffs—but should genuinely leverage local resources to go global. He also reminded that manufacturing enterprises should not see overseas markets as places to offload outdated production capacity but should rather utilize the best technologies for rapid deployment and customer acquisition.
Wang Yangbin's Fubo Group was listed in Hong Kong in 2018, with its main business being digital content copyright protection. He spoke about his selection logic: In the digital economy era, content without copyright protection can be copied at zero cost, which was not the case in China ten years ago but will certainly become important. After eight years in the Hong Kong stock market, Fubo is now bringing its technology business back to China and Southeast Asia, particularly focusing on opportunities for the cultural industry driven by AI.
What Hong Kong Offers is Not a Place of Registration, but a Launching Pad
Liang Hanjing introduced that the Investment Promotion Agency has signed cooperation memorandums with counterpart institutions in several countries over the past few years. In June this year, they brought 25 mainland enterprises to the UK to seek customers and funding, connecting with the UK Department for Business and local institutions. He observed that the policy support from some local UK governments exceeded many enterprises' expectations.
He gave an example: The founder of the British energy company Octopus Energy does not have a background in the energy sector but comes from a technology background, yet within ten years, he achieved a leading position in the UK energy market. "Cross-industry players can also overtake on curves," he said, which is part of the reason they invited Chinese enterprises to look around.
Liang Hanjing also introduced two tools. One is the corporate treasury center, and the second is exclusive self-insurance: He used a large central enterprise as an example, whose overseas assets total several hundred billion dollars and mainly consist of strategic resources, making them highly risk-sensitive and suitable for management with self-insurance tools; the China Enterprise Association also established a treasury center committee last April to help Chinese enterprises take advantage of Hong Kong's financial management capabilities. Additionally, he revealed that some institutions in the Middle East have abundant funding but lack selection capabilities and are looking to use Hong Kong for the first round of project screening for China.
How Capital Evaluates an Outbound Situation
Lu Yanzhang provided three evaluation criteria: people, technological barriers, and business landscape. If the people are not right, nothing can be accomplished; and even if it is accomplished, it may not be connected to the shareholders. Technology must enable continued leading ahead. The industry landscape is equally critical—if there are already too many Chinese enterprises in a given sector, the returns for shareholders are often poor; the experiences of investors in the new energy sector over the past decade serve as a case in point.
His other layer of judgment is to differentiate by stage: the earlier a project is, the more it is about the people; the later it is, the more it is about whether the business can stand firm. Many AI entrepreneurial teams change direction every three months or five times a year, but as long as the people are excellent and stay on the main track, when real big opportunities arise, they will surely seize them.
Wu Shichun added that there is an issue of misalignment in capital cycles. Domestic fund cycles are typically 8 to 10 years, but a project usually takes 12 to 15 years from the angel round to IPO; money that matures in between needs to be planned in advance and replaced with more long-term money to avoid forced confrontation. He believes that the relationship between capital and entrepreneurs is one of companionship over a journey: going public for entrepreneurs is merely a new starting point, while for capital, it means needing to return. "Don't think that capital exiting according to agreement means they're being malicious," he said; the key is to plan ahead, which is normal business behavior.
Cheng Hanwen: Band Together for Global Ventures, Don't Fight Among Ourselves
As the chairman of the alliance serving Chinese enterprises going global for eleven years, Cheng Hanwen provided five suggestions.
First, prioritize markets that are linguistically, culturally, and customarily similar to China, where the Chinese diaspora is significant and proximity is a factor; Southeast Asia is a natural choice. Second, before going out, make strategic plans and conduct thorough market research to precisely match target countries with one's own strengths and weaknesses. He recalled that after Jack Ma proposed the eWTP concept in 2016, he joined a delegation to Malaysia, where a special envoy from the local prime minister expressed a desire to introduce Chinese e-commerce—Malaysia strategically controls the Strait of Malacca, a key hub for Eurasian transshipment trade, making the path clear from the start.
Third, manage risks and compliance well. He specifically reminded AI and technology-related enterprises that data privacy, legality, and data and technology regulatory compliance must be prioritized. "Many Chinese enterprises encounter difficulties halfway through their overseas journey—one incident can lead to bankruptcy." Fourth, manage local political and business relations effectively. If there is no good rapport at the government level, he advises enterprises to refrain from proceeding easily—he mentioned the nickel mining case in Indonesia, where a company encountered friction with the local government and then sought help, asking, "Why wasn't there a good top-level design done before going out?"
Fifth is to band together for global ventures. He cited frontline observations: sixty percent of the "war" Chinese enterprises face overseas is against each other, rather than overseas competitors. The alliance organizes enterprises to go to Vietnam and Saudi Arabia together along vertical industrial chains—allowing every enterprise to secure orders rather than engaging in price wars against each other abroad.
Hong Kong as the First Stop
When discussing Hong Kong's role, Cheng Hanwen identified four advantages: Hong Kong is a global financial market and also the largest offshore renminbi center in the world, providing complete financial support essential for enterprises going global; Hong Kong belongs to the common law system, coupled with top-tier financial and tax service capabilities, thus minimizing legal barriers when enterprises look towards the US and European markets; Hong Kong is backed by the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, which is already the world's leading innovation cluster; Hong Kong's multicultural environment attracts institutions and people from all over the world, effectively supplementing the international engagement that mainland enterprises most lack. He also mentioned that the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, John Lee, announced the establishment of a task force for mainland enterprises going overseas in October last year, and concurrently the General Office of the State Council released guiding opinions to improve the overseas comprehensive service system, with policies aligning on both ends.
Host Yao Hong concluded with data from the front line: the Tengyun Hong Kong Sci-tech Cluster Accelerator opened last October and has nearly 100 member enterprises after just over nine months, with an addition of 4 to 5 new enterprises each month. He observed a detail: the primary purpose of member enterprises coming to Hong Kong is not to register companies or save on taxes, but to develop an internationally recognized model in Hong Kong—a POC or PMF case. He revealed that he has proposed to the Hong Kong government's planning feedback channels to build Hong Kong into a global demonstration city for mainland tech enterprises going global, opening various scenarios to let overseas delegations see the model in Hong Kong.
At the conclusion of the roundtable, Yao Hong brought the topic back to two words: clustering. Starting from Hong Kong, band together for global ventures.
Roundtable Guests (in order of seating): Liang Hanjing (Hong Kong Investment Promotion Agency), Wu Shichun (Founding Partner of Plum Ventures), Cheng Hanwen (Chairman of the Alliance for Chinese Enterprises to Go Global), Wang Xiaoming (Chairman of Guangzhou New Life Material), Lu Yanzhang (Senior Investment Strategist at Avenir Group), Wang Yangbin (Fubo Group). Host: Yao Hong (President of Tengyun Hong Kong Sci-tech Cluster Accelerator, Deputy Secretary-General of the Global Value Investment Association).
Editor’s Note: This article was organized by TECHUB NEWS reporter Alma Li based on recorded audio from the roundtable on August 24, 2026, with omissions and without review by the guests themselves. The main text adopts a third-person reporting style, retaining only content that can be confirmed through recorded audio, event posters, or publicly authoritative information; guest names and positions are based on event posters and verified by reporters on site, and guest positions have been checked and corrected against public previews from the organizer and reports from the Ta Kung Wen Wei. Unapproved proprietary names, figures, and statements have not been used.
Disclaimer: This article is for information exchange only and does not constitute any investment advice.
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