Mark Pinkstone/Former Chief Information Officer of HK government
Once pundits described the wealth of Hong Kong as its streets being paved with gold. Today, it’s still not far from that. Corporations seeking the end of the rainbow for that pot of gold are now stopping at Hong Kong for their financial needs.
Now Hong Kong is not only the financial hub in Asia, but also in the world.
Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) during the past week have pushed Hong Kong to the forefront, with leading accountancy firms KPMG China and Deloitte both ranking Hong Kong first globally ahead of the NASDAQ, New York, Shanghai Stock exchanges and the National Stock Exchange of India (which topped the list last year).
Hong Kong is expected to list 80 new IPOs this year raising about HK$200 billion (US$25.5 billion). Last year it completed only 21 IPOs raising HK$5.8 billion (US$ 740 million).
An elated Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po told a packed financial audience in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday that the core of Hong Kong’s success was our values: - openness, diversity, international character and global connectivity. Under the ‘one country, two systems’ governing framework, Hong Kong preserves its free port status, along with the free flow of capital, information, goods and talent.
And while Chan was wooing potential investors in Seoul, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange had its busiest day of the year when five mainland companies made their trading debuts simultaneously. The five debutants raised HK$10.4 billion (US$11.32 billion) from their IPOs, adding to several jumbo-sized deals made already this year.
Winner of the day was Shanghai-listed semiconductor chip designer Fortior Technology which raised HK$2.26 billion (US$287 million) in its offering.
Wednesday was also the fifth trading session of 2025 where multiple companies went public on the same day in Hong Kong.
Deloitte noted that Hong Kong would see around HK$102.1 billion(US$13billion) raised from 40 IPOs between January and June, which represents a 33 percent increase year on year in terms of number of deals and six to seven times more in terms of size.
The strong performance was boosted by four mega mainland listings from Shanghai and Shenzhen, including that of battery giant CATL, which raised HK$41 billion in capital in Hong Kong, as well as bubble tea chain Mixue that raised HK$34.5 billion.
But Hong Kong doesn’t stop at just raising money, it also helps companies physically set-up shop here to tap mainland and regional markets.
Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), a government agency designed to assist new startups, has assisted more than 1,300 overseas and mainland companies to set up or expand their business in Hong Kong from January 2023 to the first six months of 2025, bringing in foreign direct investment of more than HK$168 billion (US$21.4billion). These startups created more than 19,000 jobs within the first year of operation or expansion, contributing to the local job market and reaffirming Hong Kong's position as a leading business hub in Asia.
The top five sectors boosting their presence in Hong Kong are financial services and fintech, innovation and technology, family offices, tourism and hospitality and business and professional services.
Director General of InvestHK, Ms Alpha Lau said the agency also assists mainland companies to go global via Hong Kong and further promote Hong Kong's advantages as a regional trade and high-end logistics hub. “We will continue to leverage Hong Kong's role as a two-way springboard for mainland and overseas companies to connect between our country and the rest of the world under the 'one country, two systems' principle," she said.
The story of Hong Kong is one of tremendous efficiency with virtually unlimited resources. When wrapping up his talk in Seoul, Chan left his audience with these priceless gems: Hong Kong has no dividend tax, no capital gains tax, a low profits tax at only 16.5 per cent, trading in multiple currencies, including HKD, USD and RMB, and trading hours aligned with the Asian time zone. What could be a better place to do business?
Mark Pinkstone
** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **
As Hong Kong has been developing in leaps and bounds, so has its medical services increased to meet local demands.
And with planned new hospitals in the Northern Metropolis along with current expansion and construction development, expertise is expected to increase and the dreaded waiting times for patients will be considerably reduced.
Hong Kong is poised to be the medical centre of Asia.
Currently, Hong Kong has about 36,000 beds in 43 public hospitals and 14 private hospitals. And already they are overcrowded, aided undoubtedly by an increasing aging population. Patients have to wait up to two hours for a consultation in public hospitals and up to a year or more for onward specialised bookings for appointment.
But that is about to change. Opening on December 11 in Tseung Kwan O will be the 400-bed Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong run by the Baptist University under the umbrella of the Health Bureau of the government and not to be confused with the Hospital Authority which runs all public hospitals and clinics in Hong Kong.
This is a major breakthrough for Chinese medicine (CM) to be fully integrated with research into western-Chinese medicines while serving the community. It will be the flagship for the 18 Chinese medicine clinics already operating in all districts in Hong Kong.
In its first year of operation, it will provide only outpatient 25 beds and day-patient services and six specialised CM services – internal medicine, external medicine, gynaecology, paediatrics, orthopaedics and traumatology, and acupuncture and moxibustion. It will also provide 12 special disease programs including those for elderly degenerative diseases and stroke rehabilitation.
Inpatient services will start from late next year, with other services expanding year by year, including the remaining 11 special disease programs. It is expected that by the end of 2030, the hospital will provide full inpatient services with its 400 patient beds, as well as outpatient services of 400 000 annual attendances.
Construction is also well underway and above the foundations for the North District Hospital (NDH) extension in Sheung Shui. The expansion of NDH mainly covers the construction of a new hospital block, refurbishment, alteration and addition to existing hospital building, and the provision of associated internal roadworks as well as external and landscaping works. Upon completion of the expansion project in about 2028, the hospital will provide about 1,500 additional beds, atop of its 680 existing beds.
And then comes the mother of all hospitals: The Northern Metropolis Hospital in Ngau Tam Mei, south of Yuen Long, is developing a new integrated medical teaching and research hospital which will become the flagship hospital of the Northern Metropolis with about 3 000 beds, providing comprehensive healthcare services for the new population in the area.
Last year in his policy address, the Chief Executive John Lee announced plans for developing a new integrated medical teaching and research hospital which will become the flagship hospital of the Northern Metropolis, providing comprehensive healthcare services.
The area is a goldmine for development. Representing about one third of Hong Kong’s total land area, existing agricultural land and fishponds will be turned into a massive hub for international scientific and technical research and development.
In the First Hospital Development Plan, there are three projects in two clusters, including the expansion of North District Hospital, the redevelopment of Prince of Wales Hospital, and the extension of Operating Theatre Block for Tuen Mun Hospital. It is anticipated that a total of 1 950 additional beds and other hospital facilities will be provided by 2031 in the New Territories after the completion of the three projects, bringing the physical bed capacity in the east and west clusters in the New Territories to about 12 000 beds.
Most importantly on the backburner is a decision by the Chief Executive in Council (ExCo) last year that a site of about two hectares be reserved in the San Tin Technopole (between Yuen Long and Sheung Shui) for healthcare facilities “which may include private hospital use.”
A private hospital in the New Territories opens up many possibilities, including medical tourism.
The Chinese medical hospital will draw in many tourists from the mainland and Asia seeking medical help through traditional Chinese and western medicine methods. A tourism hospital situated along the Chinese boundary will boost tourism figures ten-fold.
A case in point is the Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. It is a classic example of how the private sector can benefit in healthcare. Founded in 1980, Bumrungrad International Hospital has been a global pioneer in providing world-class healthcare services and international patient support for nearly four decades. The hospital is an internationally accredited, multi-specialty hospital listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand since 1989. It is, perhaps the largest private hospital in Southeast Asia, caring for more than 1.1 million patients annually from more than 190 countries.
