*

Vice premier He pledges stimulus benefits for Hong Kong

markets

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Trump's proposed tariffs may affect China-U.S. business

ties,

says UBS chairman

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Trump's return should spur corporate buyout activity, say

Citi,

Goldman chiefs

(Adds UBS, Citi and Goldman chiefs' quotes from paragraph 12)

By Selena Li and Kane Wu

HONG KONG, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Beijing will support more

high-quality enterprises from China to list and issue bonds in

Hong Kong, China's Vice Premier He Lifeng said on Tuesday,

offering backing to the city at a time its future as a financial

centre is facing scrutiny.

Speaking at the Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit

hosted by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), He said

China's recent stimulus measures were gradually taking effect

and benefitting Hong Kong's markets.

He said Beijing would help support Chinese financial

institutions to expand their businesses in Hong Kong.

"We will improve the mechanism for the regular issuance of

treasury bonds, steadily increase issuance in Hong Kong, and

support Hong Kong in consolidating its position as a global

financial business hub," He said, without providing specifics.

Hong Kong's standing as a regional capital markets hub has

diminished in the past few years, with the value of initial

public offerings and secondary listings sliding.

There have been $9.1 billion worth of listings in Hong Kong

in 2024, according to Dealogic data, compared with $5.88 billion

in 2023. Despite the pick up, issuance volumes remain well off

the 2020 peak of $51.6 billion.

The deals slowdown has prompted Western and Chinese

financial firms to slash hundreds of investment banking jobs in

the past two years. Some international law firms have scaled

back or exited their businesses in the greater China region.

The HKMA event is being attended by some of China's top

policymakers and global bankers who have gathered in the Asian

financial hub.

It marks the first appearance of He, China's top economic

official, and all three of its main financial regulatory chiefs

at the annual event that has been running since 2022.

TRUMP EFFECT

The event also comes as China is grappling with an economic

slowdown, fuelled by a property sector debt crisis and the

lingering effects of the pandemic lockdowns. Geopolitical

uncertainties remain heightened in light of Donald Trump's

election as the next U.S. president.

Trump has proposed tariffs on Chinese made goods of at least

60%, in a move likely to further strain diplomatic and business

ties between the two countries.

"Asia itself has very good core growth, 4.6%, even if you

look at the tariff effect on China which will significantly

affect Chinese growth, we think China can do quite a lot in

terms of remediating that," UBS chairman Colm Kelleher

told the summit.

Citigroup ( C/PN ) chief executive Jane Fraser and Goldman

Sachs ( GS ) chairman David Solomon told the forum the return of

Trump to the White House next year should spur more corporate

buyout activity on the prospect of reduced regulation.

"When we think about deregulation tapering there (U.S), we

saw an almost immediate unlock happening with the election

result," Fraser said.

"... We saw a huge growth in our pipelines, almost overnight

in M&A, IPOs, our sponsor clients are definitely back and I

would call it the big unlock that we've been waiting for a long

time."

Beijing unveiled earlier this month a 10 trillion yuan

($1.38 trillion) debt package to ease local government financing

strains and stabilise the country's flagging growth.

($1 = 7.2364 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Selena Li and Kane Wu in Hong Kong; Writing by

Scott Murdoch; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Muralikumar

Anantharaman)