ExclusiveHong Kong security law: city’s future is in servicing Chinese firms, says top city economist
- Prominent Hong Kong economist Francis Lui Ting-ming says overall impact of security legislation on Hong Kong will be positive and bring stability
- Lui says the city’s trusted financial system has allowed Beijing to allocate capital more efficiently and that role had made it indispensable to China
Hong Kong’s economic role has been gradually shifting towards serving mainland firms in a way that will eventually make the city indispensable to Beijing, one of the city’s most prominent economists said, as China moved a step closer to imposing a new security law on the financial hub.
There are fears the Trump administration could, among other measures, revoke the city’s special trading status, potentially throwing Hong Kong’s future as an international commercial centre into doubt.
Francis Lui Ting-ming, a professor at Hong Kong University of Science, said Hong Kong would never be able to become a top financial centre like London for international foreign exchange and bond trading, or banking and insurance services.
“A lot of capital flows from China into Hong Kong, and then flows back to China, making a circle of funding. This is the role that Hong Kong plays
Instead, it could build on its trusted financial system that has proved crucial in enabling Beijing to allocate capital more efficiently, and helped mainland firms, he said.