The Economy
Mainland had grown rapidly and almost tripled between 2007 and 2017. The Mainland was the largest market for Hong Kong's exports of services in 2017, accounting for some 40 per cent of
the total.
Hong Kong also serves as a principal gateway to and from the Mainland for tourism, business and capital. In 2018, foreign visitors to the Mainland made 3.1 million trips through Hong Kong, while Mainland residents made 51 million trips to or through Hong Kong, up 14.8 per cent. Hong Kong remains the largest external investor in the Mainland. According to the Mainland's statistics, the cumulative value of Hong Kong's realised direct investment in the Mainland exceeded US$1 trillion as at end-2018, more than half of the total.
Reciprocally, Hong Kong is the largest destination for the Mainland's outward direct investment. Based on the Mainland's statistics, the Mainland's stock of outward direct investment to Hong Kong accounted for 54 per cent of its total outward direct investment as at end-2017, reflecting Hong Kong's role as a platform for Mainland companies to explore other markets and go global. Based on Hong Kong's statistics, the Mainland is Hong Kong's second largest source of foreign direct investment, accounting for 25 per cent of Hong Kong's total inward direct investment. Mainland companies maintain a strong presence in Hong Kong as well. As at mid-2018, Mainland companies were operating 1,591 regional headquarters and regional or local offices in Hong Kong, up from 722 a decade ago.
Due to proximity, Guangdong's economic links with Hong Kong are understandably the closest among all the provinces. Based on the Mainland's statistics, the cumulative value of Hong Kong's realised direct investment in Guangdong has exceeded US$270 billion, consistently remaining at above 60 per cent of the province's total inward direct investment.
Building further on the solid ties with Guangdong, Hong Kong works closely with central ministries and the governments of Guangdong and Macao to foster interconnectivity in the flow of people, goods, capital and information within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, so as to bring Hong Kong new areas of economic growth and the opportunity for Hong Kong residents to expand their space for living and development. A high-level Steering Committee for the Development of the Greater Bay Area was established in late 2018 to facilitate overall coordination of matters regarding Hong Kong's participation in the Greater Bay Area development.
Over the years, financial links between Hong Kong and the Mainland have strengthened substantially, thanks to the increasing cross-boundary economic activities and the Central People Government's policy to enhance the city's position as an international financial centre. As a major funding centre for Mainland enterprises, Hong Kong had 1,146 Mainland enterprises listed on its stock market as at end-2018. Of these, 101 were listed in 2018, raising more than $270 billion in equity funds. IPOs and secondary market financing combined raised about $470 billion in aggregate funds.
Hong Kong possesses the world's largest offshore pool of Renminbi (RMB) liquidity, holding about RMB658 billion of RMB customer deposits and outstanding RMB certificates of deposit issued as at end-2018. RMB bank lending and outstanding RMB bonds stood at about RMB106 billion and RMB171 billion respectively. RMB trade settlements handled by banks in Hong Kong reached RMB4.2 trillion in 2018.
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