Hong Kong not on borrowed time, says Monetary Authority chief
Hong Kong may no longer be China’s sole international agent but the city can still keep growing as the country opens up and expands international use of the yuan, Monetary Authority chief executive Norman Chan Tak-lam told an economic summit on Monday morning.
“Some people believe Hong Kong is on borrowed time, that our golden time was in 1980s and 1990s when the city was acting as the sole gateway between China and the international world,” Chan said. “They believe the golden time has passed as Hong Kong will be marginalised as China opens up and international investors can directly access other mainland cities."
Chan said such commentators believed Hong Kong’s prospects were negative, but trade, logistics and yuan business statistics showed a different picture.
He said after China entered the World Trade Organisation, the country’s trade increased from US$510 billion in 2001 to US$4.2 trillion last year. During the same period, external trade in Hong Kong grew from US$300 billion to US$900 billion.
The logistics business now represented 25 per cent of the local economy, up from 20 per cent in the 1990s and 15 per cent in 1979, when China first started its economic reforms.
“Hong Kong and Shanghai are serving different customers.”
“These figures show that as China continues opening up, Hong Kong’s role did not diminish but it benefitted from China’s growing trade,” Chan said.