Qianhai economic zone reaches 100,000 registered firms but very few are operating

Qianhai has reached the milestone of 100,000 companies registered in the special economic zone next to Shenzhen but the real challenge will be to see these firms begin operations in the zone, according to an executive with the authority in charge of the project.

Hong Kong lawmakers have also urged Qianhai to open itself up more for brokerage firms and accountants.

“It is good that we already have 100,000 companies registered in Qianhai. As the next step forward, we would like to see many of these companies begin to operate in Qianhai,” said Witman Hung, principal liaison officer of the Hong Kong office of the authority managing Qianhai.

Companies that are registered in Qianhai and meet certain criteria are assessed on a preferential tax rate of 15 per cent, compared with the conventional 25 per cent. Qualifying individuals are assessed on a 15 per cent rate, against the standard 40 per cent.

This has attracted many Hong Kong, mainland and multinational firms to set up in Qianhai to take advantage of these benefits. Hung said on Wednesday that as of June 15 there were 100,000 companies registered in Qianhai with total capital base of 4.971 trillion yuan (HK$5.779 trillion), 10 times more than in 2014.

Among them, 3,306 companies are from Hong Kong with a total capital of 387.1 billion yuan.