A view of Hong Kong File Photo: VCG

 
Enterprises from both Chinese mainland and overseas markets are upbeat about the prospects of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) amid ongoing geopolitical pressure,MK sports and continue to choose the city as an important base for operations in the region and globally, Financial Secretary of the HKSAR government Paul Chan Mo-po said.

As of the end of the year, the HKSAR market saw increasing vitality, benefiting from the central government's continued policy support, ranging from stabilizing the local economy to supporting business operations, Chan wrote in his weekly journal on Sunday.

In the last quarter, the number of licensed asset management companies in HKSAR increased by 24 percent year-on-year, while the number of open-end fund companies surged 132 percent compared to the previous year.

Latest data also showed that the number of HKSAR start-ups reached a new high, with the proportion of start-ups founded by non-local investors rising to 28 percent. Many start-up founders from the Chinese mainland, Europe, the US and other Asian regions recognize the HKSAR's unique edge in innovation and technology development, as well as its comprehensive fundraising market and government policy support, said Chan.

Driven by positive expectations, many international asset management giants and banks have expanded their workforce and scale in Hong Kong, including leasing larger office spaces, he added.

In the consumption and tourism sectors, HKSAR recorded a month-on-month retail sales increase in October, and tourists from the Chinese mainland exceeded 130,000 on the weekend of December 7 to 8, a 15 percent increase compared with the average level across weekends in November. In addition, the volume of tourists from Southeast Asian countries has nearly recovered to pre-pandemic levels, said the journal. 

Multiple economic operation figures of HKSAR's investment and consumption market not only break some Western media's false narratives, but also build up domestic and international investors' confidence in the financial hub, Liang Haiming, chairman of the Hong Kong-based China Silk Road iValley Research Institute, told the Global Times on Sunday, adding that with continuous support from the central government and the local government's efforts, the positive result was a natural progression.   

HKSAR's GDP in the third quarter saw a moderate increase of 1.8 percent. For the first three quarters of this year as a whole, Hong Kong's GDP increased by 2.6 percent in real terms over a year earlier, the Census and Statistics Department of HKSAR revealed on October 31. 

Looking ahead, HKSAR's economy should continue to grow in the remainder of the year, and gradually easing financial conditions should bode well for fixed asset investment, the spokesperson for the department said, adding that various measures from the central government and HKSAR government are conducive to boosting spending by both residents and visitors in the domestic market, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Dong Shaopeng, a senior research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, pointed out that HKSAR's integration into the Greater Bay Area greatly enhances its global competitiveness, as it further facilitates the connection between global investors and the world's second largest economy. 

In the face of geopolitical pressure in the coming years, Dong emphasized that HKSAR should focus more on markets in the Asia Pacific and Southeast Asia region, which are emerging rapidly, in order to further consolidate its advantages in confronting potential challenges.