Editorial | Hong Kong must seize every chance to adapt and capitalise

Contrasting remarks from one of China’s top economic officials and Hong Kong’s finance chief at a high-level bankers’ summit defined the challenges and opportunities facing the city’s economy.

Vice-Premier He Lifeng, head of the office of China’s Central Financial Commission, fleshed out a vision of Hong Kong on the front line of the national economy as an “experimental” test bed for continuing opening up and a base for mainland companies to list publicly and expand globally.

In a virtual address at the Global Financial Leaders Investment Summit in Hong Kong, He delivered a timely message of unequivocal support for the city’s future.

It came as Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, in remarks on the summit sidelines, revealed a tentative recovery from the pandemic slowdown, reflected in a declining growth rate and property market, attributable in part to weak global demand for exports and continuing flight constraints on tourism.

The vice-premier said Hong Kong was a key source of foreign investment for the mainland and the preferred channel for Chinese enterprises’ overseas investment and financing. “It can further leverage its unique advantages as a financial centre, integrating into the overall national development,” he said.

He set out some suggestions for cementing Hong Kong’s participation in China’s rise.