Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen (below) will be visiting Beijing tomorrow. Investment bankers are hoping that he will lobby state leaders for open support of Hong Kong listings for mainland enterprises.
They will be disappointed - despite the fact that the flow of deals will dry up by the third quarter if nothing is done to correct the current policy bias of the mainland stock regulator against Hong Kong listings. It is also despite the fact that Mr Tsang has made the development of Hong Kong into an international financial centre one of his top campaign pledges.
Mr Tsang would rather focus his Beijing trip on the line-up of his new cabinet. Having been forced to inherit his predecessor's cabinet, he wants very much to have his own men, in particular John Tsang Chun-wah, the director of the Chief Executive Office, as chief secretary.
Donald Tsang sees this as a key indicator of his autonomy from Beijing. But state leaders think differently. Insiders say he should be very happy if his buddy can make it to the cabinet, let alone take the No2 post in the administration.
The lobbying may use up most of his energy but the more fundamental reason for not bringing up the listing issue is that the administration simply does not see an issue here. If it has heard fears of a policy bias, it certainly does not see that as important enough to be addressed at a senior level.
In a meeting with Mr Tsang late last year, China Securities Regulatory Commission chairman Shang Fulin confirmed that companies were allowed to choose between Hong Kong and Shanghai for a listing, according to a Hong Kong government source.