40,900 new firms set up in Qianhai zone in 2017 but Hong Kong broker tenants still in short supply
Total number of companies on site up a third to 164,000, including 289 start-ups, half of which hail from Hong Kong
The number of companies registered in the Qianhai special economic zone has risen 33 per cent year-on-year to 164,900, but some smaller local financial tenants and stockbrokers in Hong Kong still complain they might find it hard to set up shop there.
Some 40,900 companies were newly registered during 2017 in the zone, which is only an hour’s drive by car from Hong Kong.
Of those 164,900, 40 per cent have already started operating, including some major names such as HSBC, Hang Seng Bank and Credit Suisse, Witman Hung, principal liaison officer for the Hong Kong office, at the Qianhai Authority, told an annual media briefing on Monday.
“We are glad to see international firms such as HSBC and Credit Suisse as well as some Hong Kong financial firms such as Bank of East Asia starting to operations in Qianhai last year,” Hung said.
The special economic zone offers tax incentives and relaxed policies to attract principally financial, logistics and new economy firms to set up.
So far, financial firms are taking the lead, followed by logistics companies, Hung said.