A senior Hong Kong finance official has hit back at criticism of the city’s prospects as “bias against China”, following a recent commentary by a prominent US economist who asserted that “the Hong Kong of old is over”. The government’s rebuttal did not directly name any specific critic but was published after American economist Stephen Roach wrote an opinion article saying Hong Kong had become a mainland city. “Some critics appear to be driven by bias against China rather than objective...
For the first time, veteran sailor Thomas Wong Kam-chuen and his partners set sail from Hong Kong on their 46-foot yacht on a two-day trip earlier this month to a holiday island in Zhuhai, testing the waters for more leisure travel to mainland China. After a five-hour voyage from the Causeway Bay typhoon shelter on a sunny weekend, they anchored their Danish-built yacht, DBX2, at Guishan Island, went ashore for a seafood lunch with beer and stayed overnight. “Food is really economical. We had 11...
More than 90 per cent of mainland Chinese enterprises plan to expand overseas within the next two years, with over 80 per cent aiming to use Hong Kong as their launch pad into Southeast Asia, a survey has found. The research findings, published by the Trade Development Council on Wednesday, indicate that mainland firms are actively pursuing diversified footprints across Asean markets. The survey, conducted from January to February 2026, polled more than 2,000 mainland Chinese companies across...
Hong Kong’s export surge will extend into the coming months, driven by the global AI boom, economists have told the South China Morning Post, adding that gross domestic product (GDP) growth could surpass official forecasts. Billy Mak Sui-choi, an associate professor at Baptist University’s accountancy, economics and finance department, said global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) remained far from saturated and would continue to drive exports. “No single country has yet been able to...
Residents and visitors in Hong Kong can enjoy discounts on dining, shopping, and attractions in August by presenting tickets for five major events, including an exhibition, as authorities seek to boost the retail and catering sectors. The Hong Kong Tourism Board announced on Monday that ticket holders for the selected events in the city would be able to enjoy 5 per cent discounts at more than 100 designated hotels and tourist attractions in August. “With a series of major sports, cultural and...
Hong Kong exports rose 53.4 per cent year on year in June, their sharpest increase in 42 years, to a record HK$641.1 billion (US$81.7 billion) on strong overseas demand for AI-related products. Provisional figures released by the Census and Statistics Department on Monday showed that the total value of exports climbed to HK$641.1 billion last month, after a 40.8 per cent surge in May. The last time exports rose more than 50 per cent in a month was in March 1987, and the last time they...
Hong Kong businesses can leverage Xinjiang’s connectivity with Central Asia to expand into new markets while the city’s financial, trade and professional services can help businesses in the region enter Southeast Asia, according to political analysts. But an economist and a textile industry veteran have warned of potential risks for Hong Kong businesses building ties with Xinjiang in northwestern China. Western countries have imposed sanctions on officials and entities tied to the Xinjiang Uygur...
Close to 170 mainland Chinese motorists are expected to arrive in Hong Kong on Saturday under an expanded cross-border travel scheme, with hotels rolling out accommodation, dining, shopping and parking packages to attract the new visitors. The Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles scheme was extended to cover five more cities – Shenzhen, Foshan, Dongguan, Huizhou and Zhaoqing – from Saturday, with the daily quota of urban trips doubling to 200. A total of nine mainland cities in the Greater...
Hong Kong can take on a new role as a “super converter” for technical standards, legal norms and innovations exchanged between mainland China and the wider world, the city’s finance chief has said. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po stressed that Hong Kong’s reputation for quality had established the city as a “brand name” that was trusted by the international community. Citing the Middle East as an example, he said: “In general they will automatically give the go-ahead to those products that...
Salary growth for Hong Kong degree graduates slowed to a five-year low in 2025, with average annual earnings rising by just 2 per cent and sitting at HK$28,000 (US$3,570) a month as underemployment hit a record high. The University Grants Committee (UGC) released the graduate employment figures for last year on its website on Friday. According to the data, the average annual salary of degree graduates stood at HK$336,000. The figure represented an average of HK$28,000 per month and a 2 per cent...
Hong Kong’s trade promotion body will set up a new office in Egypt within the next nine months to expand its footprint in Africa, while recalibrating resources for Nordic countries through its European bases as traditional markets face slower growth. Hong Kong Trade Development Council chairman Frederick Ma Si-hang said on Friday that the organisation had revamped its corporate structure to better help companies in six new industry clusters develop promotional strategies. Ma, a former commerce...
Even as local retail spending remains resilient, Hong Kong consumers are shopping more across the border in mainland China, drawn by lower prices and wider adoption of digital payments, according to data from payment giant UnionPay International. Offline UnionPay card spending in mainland China by Hong Kong residents rose nearly 30 per cent year on year in the first half of 2026, while online and digital transactions recorded even stronger growth, data released on Thursday showed. The trend...
Capital from the Gulf region is showing signs of flowing into Asia, according to Hong Kong’s finance chief, as bilateral trade between the Middle East and the city rose 35 per cent in the first five months of the year. In his weekly blog on Sunday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said Hong Kong and the Middle East had deepened ties in the areas of the economy, trade, finance, innovation and technology (I&T), and culture over the past few years. While trade between the Gulf Arab States and...
A Saudi Arabian tech giant has made Hong Kong its first stop on its maiden visit to Asia, expressing strong interest in partnering with local authorities to co-develop a smart city and establish a strategic gateway to the broader regional market. The remarks on Wednesday followed the opening of LEAP East 2026, the inaugural Hong Kong edition of the global tech event, where Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po highlighted deepening ties between the two regions. Chan said he would lead a business...