Hong Kong’s top finance executives bank on city to thrive as gateway to China

By Selena Li, Kane Wu and Julie Zhu

HONG KONG (Reuters) -In 1997, the planet viewed as Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese rule, with some pessimistic or wary about the outlook for the metropolis and its position in the world-wide financial program.

20-five several years later, Hong Kong has so considerably retained its standing as a financial hub, and some of the city’s leading executives are banking on a brilliant future as the territory stays a crucial springboard for investment decision into mainland China.

Charles Li, former chief govt of bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) and founder of microfinance system Micro Connect, explained that even though he believes the subsequent 25 a long time will be “pretty distinct”, he’s optimistic.

“I’m persuaded that the all round prosperity of Hong Kong will remain as robust as ahead of mainly because Hong Kong retains its value to both equally sides,” Li informed Reuters, referring to China and the West.

When he celebrated the handover with good friends much more than two decades ago in the city’s bustling nightlife district of Lan Kwai Fong, Li reported quite a few persons saw it as the “beginning of a quite extensive trip, and the greatest is nevertheless to arrive.”

On Friday, Hong Kong reaches the midway mark of a 50-yr experiment built to give the town a superior degree of autonomy below Chinese rule.

Critics of the governing administration say political and civil liberties have been vastly curtailed, particularly since the introduction of a countrywide protection regulation in 2020.

The finance sector has thrived considering the fact that the handover. The worth of Hong Kong’s inventory market place has surged to HK$27.65 trillion ($3.52 trillion) as of end-June, up from HK$3.2 trillion in 1997 and world wide traders have turn out to be more and more reliant on Hong Kong to trade mainland stocks.

Turnover on the Hong Kong-Shanghai stock hook up pipeline – which provides accessibility to closely managed mainland funds – jumped to 46.5 billion yuan on June 22, up from 12.8 billion yuan when it introduced in 2014, according to facts from HKEX.

Tale continues

On the Hong Kong-Shenzhen inventory link channel, turnover stands at about 58 billion yuan, up from 2.7 billion yuan at its launch in 2016.

‘INDISPENSABLE’

Even though uncertainty clouds the outlook for political and civil liberties underneath electoral improvements and the sweeping national security regulation, other enterprise executives say Hong Kong’s standing as a financial hub will keep intact.

Some business enterprise lobby groups and diplomats have expressed worry in excess of the outlook for Hong Kong, offered an exodus of talent and concerns in excess of the rule of regulation and judicial independence.

“Hong Kong will stay indispensable, (and) also the most competitive gateway involving China and the relaxation of the globe,” Fred Hu, founder and chairman of personal equity team Primavera, advised Reuters. “I don’t believe that any mainland metropolis, including some metropolitan areas I really like, will bypass Hong Kong.”

The town has contended for some of the world’s hottest initial general public choices in recent a long time, such as Alibaba, the New York-outlined e-commerce titan, which journeyed to Hong Kong to elevate $13 billion in a secondary listing in November 2019.

Hong Kong has been the world’s top inventory exchange by IPO value seven situations considering that the handover, most just lately in 2019, when 146 businesses elevated a whole of $40 billion on the principal board, in accordance to Dealogic info.

In a transfer that authorities say underscores the importance China attaches to Hong Kong, President Xi Jinping will show up at the swearing in of the city’s new chief, John Lee, on Friday as perfectly as celebrations to mark the handover.

“I feel the central government’s intention toward Hong Kong is benign. They really don’t want to mess up Hong Kong,” Hu stated.

A previous security chief who is sanctioned by the United States, Lee will be intently viewed by a money sector eager to get again on observe right after crippling COVID-19 restrictions that have brought on an exodus of men and women and found the border with mainland China mostly shut for two yrs.

David Chin, UBS’ head of financial investment banking for Asia-Pacific, is optimistic on Hong Kong’s outlook, whilst he claims China’s position on the world-wide stage is key.

“Hong Kong is also the worldwide gateway for China,” he said. “So the overseas romance, how China interacts with the relaxation of the earth, is also pretty crucial for Hong Kong.”

($1 = 7.8490 Hong Kong dollars)

(Reporting By Selena Li, Kane Wu and Julie Zhu Creating by Anne Marie Roantree Modifying by Gerry Doyle)