Shanghai, 25th November, 2017- Today, the “Celebratory Event for the 20th Anniversary of Hong Kong's Return to the Motherland——2017 Bank of East Asia Cup Financial Education School Tour” finals were held at Shanghai No.8 Senior High School. The event was jointly organised by the Shanghai Students Moral Education Development Centre, the Shanghai Educational Press Group, and The Bank of East Asia (China) Limited ("BEA China"). The programme was fortunate to receive the support and guidance of the China Banking Regulatory Commission’s Banking Consumer Protection Department as well as its Shanghai Office. The event’s contest quiz, which was held as part of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland, featured questions about the development of and ties between the financial industry in Hong Kong and the mainland . Other question topics included issues of customer protection such as ‘financial literacy’, ‘student loans’ and ‘information protection and security of payment’.

The event included a quiz on students’ financial knowledge and a debate on financial issues. Through their swift reactions and perceptive analysis, the contestants set an example for their secondary school peers with their global outlook and the ease and confidence with which they performed. In the quiz, five schools’ teams competed fiercely through a gauntlet of challenges including required questions, graph analyses, video analyses, and fingers-on-buzzers quizzes, Shanghai Jincai North Secondary School emerged as the best team. This year, the subject of final debate followed the latest hot topics, such as our increasingly cashless society. The debaters from Shanghai Shixi High School and Yichuan High School Shanghai had a fierce debate on a topic that is relevant now and will continue to be so in the future: , ‘Will cash-free payments do more good than harm?’. The contestants all endeavoured to interpret the topic and collected a wealth of real-time data to support their position. Finally, the team from Yichuan High School Shanghai won the contest by dint of their nimble strain capacity and outstanding analytical skills. At the same time, the competition recognised excellent individual debaters. Student Wang Shiting from Yichuan High School Shanghai received the title of Best Debater; student Liu Yiqing from Shanghai Shixi High School received the prize for Best Inspirational Individual; and student Zhang Shuyan from Shanghai Shixi High School was the winner of Viewers’ Choice. More than 200 teachers and students attended the finals and the awards ceremony.

Mr. Ronald HO Cheung-Ming, Deputy Chief Executive of BEA China, said, "This year is the fifth consecutive year that the 'Financial Education School Tour' has been held. This year is particularly special due to the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the Motherland. So we would like to celebrate this important moment together with our middle school student friends by holding such a meaningful event. The past few years have seen our programme gain a good reputation among Shanghai middle school students and increasing enthusiasm to participate. We are glad to see these youngsters of considerable talent enhance their financial literacy and awareness of the relevance of finance. The contest also gives students a chance to get to know their peers in other schools, to learn from each other, and to make progress together.”

The “Bank of East Asia Cup Financial Education School Tour” was developed to enhance middle school students’ financial literacy, help teenagers develop a better understanding of wealth management, and thereby improve financial awareness among young people. The tour has been held five times since its inauguration in 2013. Approximately 10,000 students from 120 schools took part in the programme in 2017, and over 100,000 people have followed the Tour online, indicating its increasing popularity with the public.

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About BEA China

Headquartered in Shanghai, The Bank of East Asia (China) Limited ("BEA China") was one of the first foreign banks to receive approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission to establish a locally-incorporated bank in Mainland China. Leveraging its deep insights into the China market as well as BEA (HK) Head Office's banking expertise in Hong Kong and overseas, BEA China offers a wide range of banking and financial services to customers. BEA China operates one of the largest networks of any foreign bank in Mainland China.

About The Bank of East Asia, Limited

Incorporated in Hong Kong in 1918, The Bank of East Asia, Limited ("BEA") is Hong Kong's largest independent local bank, with total consolidated assets of HK$788.5 billion (US$101.0 billion) as of 30th June, 2017. Listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Ltd, the Bank is one of the constituent stocks of the Hang Seng Index. BEA Group operates an extensive service network, with over 210 outlets covering Hong Kong, other parts of the Greater China region, South East Asia, Britain and America. BEA is dedicated to providing comprehensive corporate banking, personal banking, wealth management, and investment services to customers. For details of our services, please visit any BEA branch or our websitewww.hkbea.com.

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