Top Hong Kong officials met Saudi Arabian King Salman in Riyadh on Sunday, Saudi state news agency reported, as the world's leading stock exchanges compete to list oil giant Saudi Aramco. Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam and financial secretary James Lau were joined by the chairman and the chief executive of HongKong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx), CK Chow and Charles Li.
The officials discussed "areas of cooperation and means of developing them in various fields" along with Saudi ministers of energy, finance and interior, the news agency said. Li told Reuters last week a Hong Kong listing would help secure huge Chinese demand for Aramco's partial share sale, which Riyadh hopes will raise some $100 million. Saudi Aramco said in October that exchanges such as New York, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong have all been looked at for the Aramco float.