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Hong Kong economy
OpinionComment
Damien Green
Damien Green

Opinion | 5 reasons Hong Kong’s financial hub status is secure

  • Hong Kong’s fundamentals actually put it in a position of unique strength
  • It’s the gateway to mainland China and the top clearing centre for the renminbi, while the city’s cosmopolitan charm is appealing to talent

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Illuminated office buildings in Hong Kong’s Central district on November 20. Photo: Bloomberg
Damien Green
“The report of my death was an exaggeration.” As it was for Mark Twain, so it is for Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre.
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The often-misquoted line from Twain that appeared in the New York Journal in the spring of 1897 was his way of ridiculing what was obviously not true. According to the Journal, Twain was “undecided whether to be more amused or annoyed when a Journal representative informed him today of the report in New York that he was dying in poverty in London”.

Similarly, one wonders whether Christopher Hui Ching-yu, Hong Kong’s financial services secretary, should be annoyed or amused by claims that the city’s days as a leading financial centre are numbered. Like Twain, perhaps Hui could be forgiven for any urge to gently ridicule these claims.

Hong Kong’s future as a financial centre is underpinned by five fundamentals that put the city in a position of unique strength.

First, Hong Kong remains the capital gateway to mainland China. Chinese sovereignty over Hong Kong now or in the future has never been in question and if anything, the stabilising of the pathway to integration in recent years has further cemented Hong Kong’s role in this regard.
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The steady progress towards an integrated cultural and economic zone across the Greater Bay Area even further presents Hong Kong as a natural staging post for foreign investment in and out of the mainland.
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