A new survey by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council revealed that Hong Kong has been the top favourite springboard for Mainland enterprises in exploring overseas opportunities, with 83% of surveyed enterprises regarded the city as their preferred service platform.
The trend of strong global expansion plans among Mainland firms underscored earlier in June when Chief Executive John Lee led a high-level Hong Kong and Mainland delegation Central Asia.
The study of more than 2,000 internationalised enterprises found 82% plan to expand existing overseas operations, while 63% intend to launch new ventures abroad.
Belt & Road markets emerged as the top choice, favoured by 94% of respondents, while 91% expressed interest in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN nations, particularly Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand.
The council’s Research Director Bruce Pang said the surveyed Mainland enterprises expressed a growing interest on going abroad.
“Actually we see a quite balanced interest in these destinations or what they are going to expand their international business, including emerging markets as well as the developed markets as well,” Mr Pang said.
However, going global presents hurdles. Surveyed firms cited market uncertainty, intensifying competition overseas and funding shortages to adjust operations or supply chains as key challenges.
To navigate these obstacles, 83% of the surveyed enterprises identified Hong Kong as their preferred service platform, followed by the Mainland and Singapore.
Mr Pang pointed out that they chose Hong Kong as a top destination that can provide a wide range of professional services and financial services.
“Hong Kong is a super-connector, super value-adder, actually providing a full range, full-scale of services, including financial services, legal, accounting, as well as risk management, ESG, et cetera.”
The 11th Belt & Road Summit will be held on September 9 and 10 at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre.
Under the theme “Advancing High-Quality Development · Embarking on a New Journey”, this year’s summit will feature a dedicated “Go Global Chapter” and a new “GoGlobal Connect” zone. The organisers will also arrange a GoGlobal business mission to Nansha, Guangzhou.