Hong Kong still the gateway to mainland China for foreign companies, commerce chief says
Edward Yau called for fresh way to look at city’s economy and revealed his vision to use creative industries as a driving force
Foreign companies are still attracted to Hong Kong for its “super connector” role to mainland China even though a lot now go north directly, the city’s commerce minister said.
In an interview with the Post, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah also laid out his vision of using the creative industry as an “engine” to entice other industries.
Yau called for a fresh way to look at the city’s economy – not by measuring each industry’s numerical contribution to the GDP, but how they support each other.
“When you talk about whether some companies would go straight to mainland China, of course a lot would go and that’s why the service sector there has expanded dramatically,” Yau said.
The number of firms using Hong Kong as the local or regional office ... has been on the rise
“But the number of firms using Hong Kong as the local or regional office, or even global headquarters, has been on the rise.”