“It would be better for Mr Li to run a financial business instead of joining politics as that is what he know the best,” said Christopher Cheung Wah-fung, lawmaker for financial services sector in Hong Kong.

Li said he is interested in working as a “water engineer”. Water is commonly used in Chinese culture as a metaphor for money.

The water metaphor continued as he talked about one of his biggest achievements while at HKEX: orchestrating a tie-up between Hong Kong and Shanghai stock markets in 2014, adding Shenzhen in 2016 for cross-border trading dubbed Stock Connect.

“I want to see more international firms listing in Hong Kong in future. This will allow investors to buy international stocks via the Connect schemes, just like using water to feed international fish,” he said.
During his time at HKEX, Li also brought in Alibaba Group Holding’s executive vice-chairman Joe Tsai and Sequoia Capital’s Neil Shen as advisers and introduced a moon shot lab to study hi-tech innovation. Alibaba owns the Post.

Li started his career aged 16 in the oilfields of north-eastern China before studying in the US to become a lawyer. He was China Chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co ahead of landing in the city’s highest-paid financial regulatory job, which commanded HK$51 million in salary, bonus and share awards last year.

“I do not want to be an employee any more. At my age, it will not be easy to find a new job. I would like to see what business opportunities I can create,” Li said.

Shares of HKEX, which are themselves listed on the city’s exchange, have risen 192 per cent since Li took over in 2010 closing at HK$387.8 each on Monday. The number of companies on the local exchange has more than doubled during Li’s tenure to 2,533 now.

A rare misstep for Li was the HKEX’s bid to buy the London Stock Exchange for US$36.6 billion last September, an audacious overture that was ultimately rebuffed by one of the world’s oldest financial marketplaces in favour of a takeover by Refinitiv.

Li will continue to live in the city with his wife, three dogs and three grown-up children. He said he would be seen in Hong Kong’s financial and business district, Central, and will visit Exchange Square, where HKEX is based, frequently.

Li’s right-hand man at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, Calvin Tai, will take his place on an interim basis from January 1, while the search continues for a permanent replacement.