Core Viewpoint - The Hong Kong stock market has seen a significant increase in trading activity, particularly in southbound trading and ETFs, indicating a growing interest from mainland investors and a return of overseas long-term capital [1][2][3]. Group 1: Trading Activity - Southbound trading has reached an average daily volume of 1.2 billion HKD, a year-on-year increase of approximately 2.4 times [3]. - The average daily trading volume of ETFs has hit a record high of 9.1 billion HKD since the launch of the mutual market access [3]. Group 2: Investor Interest - There is a rising interest from mainland investors in Hong Kong stocks, with overseas long-term capital, particularly from the Middle East, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, also returning [2][3]. - The narrowing price gap between A-shares and H-shares reflects increased confidence from overseas investors in quality Chinese assets [3]. Group 3: ETF Development - The Hang Seng Technology Index has seen the launch of 29 ETFs over five years, with an asset management scale (AUM) of 37.3 billion USD, and 10 of these products are available for mainland investors, contributing 14.2 billion USD to the AUM [4]. - The Hang Seng Index Company is introducing cross-market products to meet the diverse needs of mainland investors, including indices that cover both Hong Kong and US stocks [4]. Group 4: Market Optimization - The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is implementing several optimization measures, such as expanding the range of ETF mutual market access targets and researching the possibility of shortening the settlement cycle to T+1 [3]. - There is a call for more ETFs to be included in mutual market access and for a reduction in management fees to enhance liquidity and attract more long-term capital [5].