Hong Kong maintains fourth place in Global Financial Centres Index
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Hong Kong maintained fourth place globally in the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) 33 Report published today (March 23) by the Z/Yen from the United Kingdom and the China Development Institute from Shenzhen.
A Government spokesman said, “Hong Kong’s rankings in the four areas of business environment, infrastructure, financial sector development, and reputational and general rose by two places as compared with the previous issue, fully reflecting Hong Kong’s strengths and advantages as a leading global financial centre. Same as the previous issue, as compared to the assessment by financial industry practitioners from other major financial centres on the prospects of the cities in which they were based, practitioners based in Hong Kong were the most confident about the future competitiveness of Hong Kong as an international financial centre.
“In view of the intense international competition, the Government has adopted a more vigorous and proactive development approach to press ahead with institutional enhancements and policy innovations as well as boosting promotion and publicity on Hong Kong’s full return to normalcy, so as to consolidate our strengths and continuously enhance the competitiveness of Hong Kong. The Government will continue to make good use of Hong Kong’s institutional advantages under ‘one country, two systems’ including a fine tradition of rule of law, a market-oriented and internationalised business environment, robust infrastructure support, internationally aligned regulatory regimes, diverse financial products, and free flow of information and capital, to strengthen Hong Kong’s capital market and our role as an international financial centre. With our sound and robust regulatory regime and risk management system, as well as the strong and solid buffer and resilience built in our financial markets, we are confident that the financial system of Hong Kong could withstand external shocks and remain resilient.
“Addressing the closing meeting of the first session of the 14th National People’s Congress, President Xi Jinping said that the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has embarked on an irreversible and historic journey, and that we must firmly promote high-quality development and make solid efforts in advancing the implementation of the ‘one country, two systems’ principle. The 14th Five-Year Plan confirms the important functions and positioning of Hong Kong in the overall development of our country. Hong Kong will continue to consolidate its status as an international financial centre and give full play to connecting markets and investors of the Mainland and overseas, serving our country’s needs with our strengths. The Central People’s Government has recently promulgated the ‘Opinion on Providing Financial Support for the Comprehensive Deepening Reform and Opening Up of the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone’, which set out 30 measures on financial reform and innovation, further strengthening the connection and high-level co-operation between the financial markets of Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and provides more opportunities for Hong Kong’s financial sector. With the staunch support of our country and our unique advantages under ‘one country, two systems’, Hong Kong will continue to create a strong impetus for growth and seize historic opportunities offered by the national development,” the spokesman added.
The GFCI Report is released in March and September every year since 2007. In GFCI 33, 120 financial centres were assessed and Hong Kong ranked fourth globally with an overall rating of 722.