https://www.scmp.com/rss/505020/feed Heiwai Tang is professor of economics and associate director of both the Asia Global Institute and the Institute for China and Global Development at the University of Hong Kong. Prior to joining HKU, he was tenured associate professor of international economics at Johns Hopkins University. He is also affiliated with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas in the US, the Centre of Economic Studies and Ifo Institute (CESIfo) in Germany, and the Globalisation and Economic Policy Centre in the UK as... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Heiwai Tang Heiwai Tang Geopolitics is reshaping the global trade landscape. The old model of free trade is fracturing as nations retreat into protectionism. Yet, amid this shift, China’s economy remains remarkably resilient. The country is shedding its “world’s factory” label and becoming a technological powerhouse. A massive wave of Chinese enterprises is “going global”. For Hong Kong, this is a defining moment. By drawing up a strategic five-year plan and leveraging its unique institutional advantages under “one... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3351772/how-hong-kongs-institutional-strengths-can-power-its-five-year-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3351772/how-hong-kongs-institutional-strengths-can-power-its-five-year-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Apr 2026 01:30:09 +0000 There has been much heated discussion about Hong Kong’s economy and its status as an international financial centre. A viral social media post last year describing Hong Kong as a “ruin” of a global hub and a recent op-ed pronouncing it to be “over” sparked much angst about the city’s future. Though many experts and scholars have had their say, the debate so far has missed the core issue of what Hong Kong must do to retain its global status. We believe that by maintaining and even strengthening... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3253977/hong-kong-over-these-7-strengths-will-keep-its-economy-thriving?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3253977/hong-kong-over-these-7-strengths-will-keep-its-economy-thriving?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Mar 2024 21:30:14 +0000 When Hong Kong was recently removed by the Heritage Foundation from its Index of Economic Freedom, Financial Secretary Paul Chan criticised the decision as being motivated by “their ideological inclination and political bias”. But Hong Kong’s policymakers were eager to embrace the Index and its underlying methodology when Hong Kong topped the rankings. The rankings see virtually all forms of government intervention – including taxes and redistribution, government stabilisation policies and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3125211/hong-kongs-axing-heritage-foundations-economic-freedom-rankings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3125211/hong-kongs-axing-heritage-foundations-economic-freedom-rankings?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Mar 2021 01:45:09 +0000 As US-China tensions continue to escalate amid the Covid-19 pandemic and a global trend of deglobalisation, Hong Kong’s role as an economic gateway between mainland China and the rest of the world is likely to shrink in the foreseeable future. The four pillar industries identified by the government – financial services, tourism, trading and logistics, and professional services – managed to maintain a stable share of Hong Kong’s gross domestic product (about 58 per cent) only because of the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3107290/hong-kong-must-reindustrialise-reinvent-its-economy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3107290/hong-kong-must-reindustrialise-reinvent-its-economy?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Oct 2020 00:45:08 +0000 The end of the Covid-19 tragedy still seems distant. But when the pandemic is over, it could well leave, like the 1918 Spanish flu, not just deep psychological scars, but also wider inequality among businesses and people around the world. In a few months, when we finally feel safe and free to walk around our neighbourhoods, we may find that the small coffee shop owned by the young latte art champion or the kebab restaurant run by the refugee family no longer exists. Instead, in the nearby... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3078573/coronavirus-could-leave-world-even-more-unequal-place-would-be-real?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3078573/coronavirus-could-leave-world-even-more-unequal-place-would-be-real?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Apr 2020 17:00:13 +0000 “No nation is more prepared and more resilient than the United States,” said US President Donald Trump in an address to the nation on the coronavirus epidemic on March 11. Is this true? While the US has some of the world’s best medical scientists, research institutions and pharmaceutical innovations, its health care system is too fragile to protect its citizens from any epidemic. The US, like China but for completely different reasons, missed many golden opportunities at the initial stage of the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3075544/why-coronavirus-ticking-time-bomb-us-costly-and-inefficient-health?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3075544/why-coronavirus-ticking-time-bomb-us-costly-and-inefficient-health?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Mar 2020 19:00:17 +0000 China Inc. is gradually returning to business. After more than a month of extensive city lockdowns and travel restrictions in response to the Covid-19 outbreak, Chinese workers and small business owners cannot wait any longer to make some money in the Lunar New Year, while factory owners can finally tell their foreign clients that it is back to business as usual. Beijing is equally impatient. President Xi Jinping told local government officials that people need to get back to work. Local... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3053019/chinas-return-work-good-news-economy-it-also-risks-unleashing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3053019/chinas-return-work-good-news-economy-it-also-risks-unleashing?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Mar 2020 01:00:14 +0000