GBA at 5: HSBC, Bank of East Asia among Hong Kong lenders cranking up Qianhai presence with eye on growth opportunities
- HSBC’s new Qianhai offices will open later this year, while Bank of East Asia’s US$194.6 million office tower was launched in January
- Hong Kong is a big contributor and had invested US$4.9 billion in Qianhai as of July last year
HSBC, the biggest of Hong Kong’s three note-issuing banks, will this year launch a new 25-floor office tower in Qianhai, said Daniel Chan, head of Greater Bay Area at HSBC.
“HSBC has been actively participating in Qianhai’s financial pilot schemes since the beginning, and we were one of the first banks to participate in yuan cross-border lending and the Wealth Management Connect scheme,” Chan told the Post. The scheme, tailor-made for the bay area, allows residents from its nine mainland cities to buy investment products in Hong Kong through banks, while Hong Kong and Macau investors can also buy mainland investment products.
Qianhai offers incentives such as a 15 per cent corporate tax, which is lower than the 25 per cent charged in mainland China. Such measures have attracted major Hong Kong banks to invest in grade-A office buildings, and to develop a wide range of banking, securities and insurance businesses in the area.
Hong Kong is, in fact, a big contributor and had invested a total of US$4.9 billion in Qianhai as of July last year, accounting for 95 per cent of the special zone’s total foreign investment, government data shows. Moreover, the area is already home to about 10,000 Hong Kong companies, and more than 75,000 Hong Kong residents live and work there.
