Editor's note: Matteo Giovannini is a finance professional at ICBC in Beijing and a member of the China Task Force at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development. The article reflects the author's opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

China's ever-growing relevance in global finance, which is already the world's second-largest stock and bond market, is boosted by domestic tech giants' increasing popularity. They have rapidly gained space in the financial services arena, disrupting the way businesses have been conducted for decades and paving the way for the tremendous rise of the fintech phenomenon.

The reasons for China's leadership in the industry have to be attributed to rapid growth in mobile Internet penetration, a huge and consolidated e-commerce ecosystem, and a large share of the unbanked population with very high saving rates. These factors have led the country to score 87 percent in Ernst and Young's 2019 fintech adoption index.

In this sense, it is not by coincidence that the world's biggest fintech firm is the Alibaba-owned Ant Group, a company that is in the process to launch an Initial Public Offering (IPO) expected to become the biggest offering ever, surpassing the record established by Saudi Aramco last year. A decisive acceleration in the approval for the long-awaited double listing of Ant in Shanghai and Hong Kong comes from the important resolution of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which early this week gave the green light to the offshore leg of the dual listing. The dual listing is estimated to increase the company's valuation to at least $280 billion, creating an entity larger than Bank of America and triple the size of Citigroup.

This move wouldn't have been possible had it not been preceded by the clearance from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the country's main regulator of the securities industry, that communicated in the same day the consent to move forward with a filing that will initiate months of busy capital raising in Hong Kong. The Chinese regulator's decision is an important and necessary step that paves the way for a blockbuster listing that has all the characteristics to become a benchmark for future dual cross-border IPOs. Other companies could gain interesting lessons from this, especially in relation to the combination of different regulatory timetables corresponding to two different jurisdictions.

The approval also comes at a delicate time for Hong Kong, right after last week's trip by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Shenzhen for the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. The move once raise questions about what kind of future role Hong Kong could play, but the clearance from the CSRC stops any form of speculation of a possible downsizing of the region's role. The message that the central government has delivered through this decision is that, rather than creating an unhealthy competition that only leads to a zero-sum game, it is the synergy and cooperation between Hong Kong and Shanghai for the listing of major domestic IPOs and between Hong Kong and Shenzhen for the benefit of the Greater Bay Area development plan that will lead China to achieve organic growth and to further opening-up its financial market to the rest of the world.

Furthermore, the CSRC approval demonstrates that the role that Hong Kong has held over several decades as a leading international financial center and as a gateway to the Chinese mainland cannot be questioned. The city relies on solid pillars such as a solid legal system which is trusted by the international community, a strong and well-regulated financial sector that attracts a vast pool of international talents, the widespread use of the English language that is what makes of Hong Kong a "world city", and a fully convertible capital account that presents no restrictions on foreign exchange transactions. Foreign companies utilize Hong Kong as a springboard to get exposure to the Chinese mainland's financial market while the Chinese mainland leverages Hong Kong's currency and capital market to attract foreign direct investments (FDI) crucial in encouraging development and supporting the country's economy.

All things considered, Ant Group's IPO is going to represent a historic and iconic milestone for China's stock market. It serves as a way to project overseas a message of confidence to foreign investors with respect to the opening up of a financial market, a market that is estimated at $45 trillion and where Hong Kong is definitely part of the equation.

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