HONG Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang yesterday urged Chinese mainland officials to let more domestic firms, including media companies and insurers, sell shares on the city's exchange.

About 15 to 20 mainland media and publishing companies plan to go public in the next two years, the Hong Kong government's press office said, citing Tsang's meeting this week with Liu Binjie, head of the General Administration of Press and Publication.

Tsang and the central bank also agreed that a pilot program allowing mainland individuals to buy Hong Kong stocks will "certainly" go ahead, the press office said, citing a meeting between the city's chief executive and Wu Xiaoling, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China.

Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index has surged as much as 47 percent after China unveiled plans for the pilot program on August 20, said Bloomberg News. China's foreign-exchange regulator said then it would introduce a program to allow nationals with a Bank of China Ltd account in Tianjin to buy Hong Kong equities.

The Hang Seng fell to a one-month low on November 12 after a Credit Suisse Group report said the program had been delayed until the second quarter.

The pilot program, also referred to as the "through train," will be rolled out once outstanding issues are smoothed out, the Hong Kong press office cited the two officials as saying, without elaboration. Hong Kong will lend "comprehensive" support to the preparations, Tsang said, according to the office. No timetable was discussed at the meeting between Tsang and Wu.

Wu reiterated Premier Wen Jiabao's comments on November 3 that the government needed more time to assess the risks to Hong Kong's financial system, said the city government's press office.

Separately, Tsang encouraged the mainland's insurance watchdog to allow more mainland insurers to list in Hong Kong, the office said, citing his first-ever visit with Wu Dingfu, chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

Tsang urged the CIRC's Wu to let insurers invest more of their funds in Hong Kong, as well as to have their money managed by the city's asset managers.