JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon, the first Wall Street chief to visit Hong Kong since pandemic, says mainland China’s debt crisis unlikely to infect global markets
- Dimon expressed confidence in mainland China’s economy during a trip to Hong Kong after he was exempted from the city’s stringent quarantine measures
- He said he is ‘not swayed by geopolitical winds’ and expects the relationship between the US and China to improve
Dimon is the first Wall Street boss to come to Hong Kong since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and was exempted from the city’s stringent quarantine measures.
“We do not expect China’s property woes to have a big impact [on global markets],” he said in an interview with South China Morning Post.
He is the first senior global banker known to have been granted an exemption from quarantine after the Hong Kong government this month suspended exemptions for most groups, including foreign diplomatic personnel, top business executives and senior bankers as part of a ramped-up campaign to reduce imported Covid-19 infections.
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2017 interview with former Trump business adviser Jamie Dimon, urging US, China dialogue
“The government was satisfied that the exemption is justified to facilitate the short visit (30 odd hours) by a small party (Mr Dimon and his chief of staff), the purpose of which is considered to be in the interest of Hong Kong’s economic development,” said a spokesperson at the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau.
“Robust infection control requirements and protocols are attached to the exemption. The approved itinerary of the visit has fully reflected the need to minimise social contact. We are also satisfied that sufficient safeguards have been put in place by the applicant financial institution to ensure compliance with those requirements and protocols.”
