Freedom, Tolerance In HK's DNA: Charles Li

The chief executive of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing said neither violence nor suppression has a place in the SAR.

In light of tensions in society sparked by the recent anti-extradition protests, Charles Li said on Tuesday people who love the city have been going through some tough times. But he stressed they should try to see hope in the future, rather than feeling hopeless and pessimistic.

According to Li, peace, freedom and tolerance are part of Hong Kong's DNA.

"We do not want this city in the future to be associated with violence, with brutality and with dissent, and these are not really in our DNA in Hong Kong," he said.

Li said people are free to express their views in a peaceful manner but must be tolerant towards one another.

"Everybody in Hong Kong needs to calm down, needs to think what we wanted to do, needs to think how we can treasure the freedom, the openness that we already have, and make sure that we can travel down the road together wider and wider, rather than somehow getting into a narrower channel."

He also pledged support for the One Country, Two Systems principle, saying Beijing strongly supports Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong.

The stock exchange executive also spoke about Hong Kong's role as an international financial centre, after a decision by beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev to scrap its plan to list its Asia Pacific unit here.

Li expressed confidence towards the local IPO market despite the loss of Budweiser's listing, saying it will remain robust in the second half of the year.

He also said he hopes to see more large-scale listings in Hong Kong in future.