John Lee: Hong Kong leader vows to shore up global business role

The previous British colony’s reputation as an global financial middle has been battered all through the past two a long time by its adherence to China’s unbending Covid limitations. They have produced the metropolis fewer desirable for expats and considerably more challenging for foreign executives to check out.

That tracked with a related report from the American Chamber of Commerce in January, which identified that 44% of expats and businesses ended up most likely to leave the metropolis.

“Hong Kong continue to retains business options but an array of issues, specifically draconian vacation constraints and worsening US-China relations, weigh on sentiment,” the US report claimed.

Hong Kong’s quarantine rules are notorious between inhabitants and expats. At a person point, the govt essential most inbound travelers to isolate in resort rooms, on their very own dime, for 3 months, just one of the world’s longest isolation durations.

Although Hong Kong officers have lifted flight bans and scaled back the quarantine specifications, an outflow of expertise is now actively playing out.

Even with no the Covid crisis, headhunters were owning difficulty bringing expertise to Hong Kong due to the fact of Beijing’s increasing oversight of the semi-autonomous territory.

Xi, in his speech at Lee’s inauguration ceremony on Friday, stated Beijing would “entirely assist Hong Kong” in “consolidating its status as an worldwide money, shipping and trade center” and “sustaining a absolutely free, open and regulated business enterprise surroundings.”

“We will acquire rising industries, and build Hong Kong into an global innovation middle,” Lee mentioned.

In the course of his speech, Lee extolled China’s Belt and Highway and Bigger Bay Region initiatives, which he reported have provided Hong Kong “unlimited prospects and limitless advancement area.”

— Alex Stambaugh, Charlie Fong, and Allison Morrow contributed to this report.