Hong Kong must leverage global reach to take on Qianhai challenge, experts say

Hong Kong must leverage its international reach if it is to avoid being marginalised by the mainland's march towards full financial sector liberalisation and further integration into the global monetary system, according to a panel of experts assembled by the South China Morning Post.

"China's opening up means there is more, potentially, for everyone," said Anita Fung, the chief executive of HSBC in Hong Kong. "The real threat is to be complacent about it."

Speaking to about 150 senior executives drawn from across Hong Kong's economic spectrum, Fung was part of a high-level panel brought together by the Post to kick off a series of six seminars to engage the city's business leaders and top thinkers under the banner of "Redefining Hong Kong".

The first seminar focused on how Hong Kong could benefit from the evolution of Qianhai, the special economic zone in the west of Shenzhen that will lead the mainland's drive for a modern services sector - particularly in financial services and, significantly, in the liberalisation and internationalisation of the yuan.

Qianhai, which aims to raise US$7 billion of inward investment from 30 of the world's top 500 companies in its 2013-15 development phase, is regarded as a potential threat to Hong Kong's supremacy as the international financing centre for the world's second-biggest economy.

Video: See the highlights of the debate