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Lord Mayor of London Peter Estlin in Hong Kong on Tuesday. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Lord Mayor of London sees fintech promise in China’s Greater Bay Area plan, seeks stronger ties with Hong Kong ahead of Brexit

  • Peter Estlin looks to drum up investment for London’s financial district before Britain’s divorce from European Union

The City of London is looking to foster closer business ties with Hong Kong as a gateway to southern China’s “Greater Bay Area”, as Britain seeks new trade links worldwide amid the looming threat of a no-deal Brexit.

Lord Mayor Peter Estlin, in Hong Kong on Tuesday as part of an 11-day Asia tour, said the plan to transform 11 cities around the Pearl River Delta into a global economic powerhouse held much promise for financial technology, in which London is a major player.

He said Hong Kong remained a large, vibrant capital market under the “one country, two systems” governing formula which has been in place since the handover of sovereignty to China in 1997.

Beijing on Monday unveiled a road map for an innovation and technology-driven bay area that would pool the strengths of Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong cities to compete on the global stage.

“It’s going to be exciting,” Estlin said before leaving for Singapore on Tuesday.

He had already visited Seoul and Tokyo on his tour between February 12 and 22.

‘It’s going to be exciting,’ Estlin said of the Greater Bay Area project. Photo: Roy Issa

“The gateway to the Greater Bay Area is still through Hong Kong. I can see that is now developing into Hong Kong and Shenzhen.”

Estlin is planning to visit Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing next month in a trip seen as a business mission to drum up investment opportunities for the City of London ahead of Britain’s divorce from the European Union on March 29.

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The City of London constitutes the historical centre and modern financial district of the United Kingdom’s capital, and the position of lord mayor is largely ceremonial. The role is separate from the office of the mayor for the city as a whole.

Estlin wants to entice greater fintech investment from Hong Kong and vice versa, as well as promote London’s role as an offshore yuan trade settlement hub in the western hemisphere.

Estlin is on an 11-day Asia tour. Photo: Jonathan Wong

He said the Brexit process had been a difficult one. Last month the British parliament threw out a proposed withdrawal agreement with the EU that Prime Minister Theresa May had spent two years negotiating.

“It has been frustrating and has created uncertainty, and business doesn’t like uncertainty,” Estlin said.

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“The UK going forward is maintaining and growing the relationship with Hong Kong and Shenzhen, which will transcend the short-term impact Brexit is creating.”

Sino-British relations came under strain last week when British defence secretary Gavin Williamson said he would send an aircraft carrier to the Pacific region in or around 2021. The comment incensed Chinese state leaders and was reportedly a factor behind the cancellation of a planned visit to Beijing by finance minister Philip Hammond.

Last month the British parliament threw out a proposed withdrawal agreement with the EU that Prime Minister Theresa May had spent two years negotiating. Photo: AFP

But Estlin said: “The two countries’ relationship is a long-standing one ... Any relationship will not be perfect, and fundamentally, the relationship between the UK and China is positive.”

The British government was keen to grab a piece of the pie regarding China’s “belt and road” foreign trade initiative, he added, and would join a September summit in Hong Kong to map out its role. The initiative is the brainchild of President Xi Jinping as part of a strategy to open up global trade.

“The scale of the belt and road ambition is huge, absolutely huge, and what I think the UK brings to the table is two things: one, access to international finance ... and, two, liquidity in funding the projects,” Estlin said.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: L O N D ON L O O KS TO F I N T ECH P R O MISE OF BAY A R EA P LAN
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