HONG KONG, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Monday held a signing ceremony to welcome the latest batch of 22 strategic enterprises establishing or expanding their operations in Hong Kong.

Many of these enterprises have a market valuation exceeding 100 billion HK dollars (about 12.76 billion U.S. dollars), covering cutting-edge sectors such as life and health technology, low-altitude economy, artificial intelligence, smart mobility, and financial technology.

Director-General of OASES Peter Yan said that with half of the new companies coming from abroad, Hong Kong continues to stand out as the premier choice for industry titans despite global complexities.

Pfizer Corporation Hong Kong Limited is among the strategic companies introduced in this batch, and it reportedly plans to expand clinical trials and real-world studies in Hong Kong.

Paul Chan, financial secretary of the HKSAR government, said that this is a clear win-win for Hong Kong and for the enterprises. On the one hand, they bring investments, create jobs and deliver innovations that benefit the community. On the other hand, Hong Kong provides them with the platform, connectivity, finance, talent and professional support to expand internationally and realize their full potential.

"Looking ahead, we remain firmly committed to attracting more strategic enterprises," Chan added.

So far, the OASES has successfully attracted more than 120 strategic enterprises to date. Collectively, these companies are projected to bring approximately 73 billion HK dollars in investment and create about 25,000 job opportunities, including high-end research and development and management positions over the coming years. (1 U.S. dollar equals 7.83 HK dollars) ■