Our government departments aren't a patch on Shanghai's or Beijing's, both cities have a better living environment than us and we're not as good at innovating ... but Hong Kong is, for the fifth year in a row, the nation's most competitive city.
The lead is narrowing, though, and to stay ahead of the other 293 Chinese cities, Hong Kong should become more of a world city - and integrate more with the mainland - says the state researcher in charge of compiling the national competitiveness index.
Specifically, Ni Pengfei says we need to focus more on the higher end of the global financial services market and that the government should put more emphasis on science and technology.
'Hong Kong's competitiveness and ability to research in science and technology is still very strong, but ... Hong Kong is not necessarily stronger than the mainland,' Ni said.
Beijing was on track to surpass Hong Kong in this field, the report, the Blue Book of Urban Competitiveness, by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said.
Ni had words of warning for the city, too. Shenzhen might not need to rely on Hong Kong to export its products given its rapid development in recent years.
The border city came second in the survey, followed by Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei and Guangzhou. The order was unchanged from last year.