Hong Kong urged to raise its game as Asia's financial hub
Financial forum warns of multiple challenges, with HKEx chief saying that by 2020, there will be 'one country, one system' in economic terms
Finance industry leaders have delivered an icy assessment of Hong Kong's claim to be Asia's commercial centre.
They warn the city faces rising competition from the mainland as Beijing continues its reforms and further loosens its grip on currency and interest rates.
"Economically, mainland China and Hong Kong will be one country, one system by 2020," Charles Li Xiaojia, chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEx), said at the Seventh Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong yesterday.
"By then, the Chinese economy will be entirely open and its currency should be fully convertible, on top of the reforms of the financial system."
On a brighter note, the Heritage Foundation, a US-based think tank, announced in its annual report that Hong Kong was the world's freest economy yet again, capping a two-decade reign at No1.
But Singapore, in second place, narrowed the gap.
Li said that in the face of globalisation, the gap between the mainland and Hong Kong was narrowing. That was levelling the playing field economically, yet Hong Kong was not diversifying quickly enough the range of products it offers investors.