While the Washington Post continues to lambast Hong Kong over its National Security Law (NSL), saying recent changes “will chill foreign investment”, the city still enjoys its high ranking in the World Competitive Yearbook (WCY) 2026, a survey undertaken by the International Institute for Management Development.
Hong Kong's global competitiveness has risen for the third consecutive year, up one place to second globally this year, the highest since 2019. It is second only to Singapore and two ranks above Taiwan. The US ranked 10th, 8 points behind Hong Kong.
Among the four competitiveness factors in the WCY 2026, Hong Kong ranks second globally in "government efficiency" and third in "business efficiency". Hong Kong ranks eighth and 11th globally in "infrastructure" and "economic performance" respectively. As regards the various competitiveness sub-factors, Hong Kong tops the rankings in "tax policy" and "business legislation"; ranks second globally in "finance"; third globally in "international trade", "international investment", "management practices" and "education"; and fourth globally in "public finance" and "basic infrastructure".
The Washington Post’s recent commentary on Hong Kong said, “the city’s hardline authorities are making the [NSL] law even more repressive for anyone caught in its net”, that Hong Kong had become “a less secure place to visit or do business” and that the changes “will further chill foreign investment”.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The Hong Kong government said the commentary had exposed the newspaper’s “irrational anti-China stance” and amounted to “wanton slander” and “groundless allegations”.
It is time for the Post to face facts and respect the truth, including honest opinions expressed by its fellow countrymen who invest their money and do business in and with Hong Kong.
The government spokesperson said that, amid rapidly evolving geopolitical dynamics, Hong Kong, with its close connectivity to both the Chinese mainland and the world under the 'one country, two systems' principle, and its sound institutions, open markets and sustained investments in innovation, has become a 'value hub' that offers both security and growth opportunities. In fact, Hong Kong continues to excel in various international rankings including those for economy, finance, and talent.
The International Monetary Fund has also given positive recognition to Hong Kong in recent months, and major credit rating agencies have successively reaffirmed Hong Kong's credit ratings and 'stable' outlook. All these echo the WCY 2026 results.
Even the American Chamber of Commerce here ridiculed the Post by citing an AmCham survey showing increased confidence in the city’s business environment and rule of law.
Last year, Hong Kong knocked Switzerland off its perch for the top spot as the world’s largest cross-border wealth hub while it reclaimed the global initial public offering (IPO) crown for the first time since 2019, with 114 listings raising HK$292 billion. And this year accounting giant Deloitte has estimated that Hong Kong's (IPO) market in the first half of this year had come in second globally, with 78 new listings raising around HK$203.3 billion still with half a year to go.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq claimed the crown for most IPOs after seeing 60 new listings raise HK$872.4 billion during the period, though Deloitte said the stand out performance by the US bourse was largely boosted by SpaceX which alone raised HK$675.8 billion. Without SpaceX's IPO, Hong Kong's stock exchange could have "narrowly surpassed" the Nasdaq to top the world.
The Post is hardly in a position to criticize Hong Kong and should clean up its own backyard before doing so. The troubled Post has been plagued with financial and staff problems in recent years. Staffers also became worried about the CEO and publisher William Lewis’ drinking and uninvolved role in the newsroom. The publisher continued to grapple with declining revenue and readership and sought strategies to regain subscribers lost during the Trump era. In January 2025, the Post announced it will lay off 4 per cent of its staff.
In February 2025, trillionaire wannbe and owner Jeff Bezos announced that the opinion section of the Post would publish only pieces that support "personal liberties and free markets". Within two days of the announcement, it was reported that more than 75,000 digital subscribers had canceled their subscriptions.
As an illustration of its editorial intrusions, the Post editorial board had drafted an endorsement for Kamala Harris for the 2024 presidential elections, but it had been blocked by order of Bezos. The move was criticized by former executive editor Martin Baron, who considered it "disturbing spinelessness at an institution famed for courage", and suggested that Bezos was fearing retaliation from US President Donald Trump that could impact Bezos's other businesses.
The Post is “dying in darkness.”
Mark Pinkstone
** 博客文章文責自負,不代表本公司立場 **
Next month, on September 3, the world will celebrate Skyscraper Day when Hong Kong is expected to be crowned, again, as the city having the most skyscrapers. According to the Chicago-based Council on Vertical Urbanization, Hong Kong has 596 skyscrapers over 150 meters in height.
The city has been forced to build vertically due to its small land area and dense population and its skyline is among the most renowned in the world thanks to its robust financial sector, international trade connections, and creative urban planning.
Following up is Shenzhen with 444 skyscrapers and New York third with 317. The tallest building in the world is the Buri Khalifa in Dubai reach 828 meters and has 163 floors for hotels, residence, offices, observation decks and communication systems.
The council adds that Skyscraper Day is the ideal time to examine which cities have the most skyscrapers and how they represent advancements in economy and design.
Also, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat has weighed in noting that when it comes to soaring skylines and architectural marvels, no country has embraced the vertical revolution quite like China. Hong Kong, along with Shenzhen, and Guangzhou (5th position) are part of a burgeoning megacity known as the Greater Bay Area, which is home to over 1,500 skyscrapers. This is even more impressive when considering that Shenzhen, which now boasts a population of 17 million people, was just a small fishing village until the 1970s.
Looking at this data from another perspective, China actually has more skyscrapers than the rest of the world combined. China has 12 cities, 2777 skyscrapers and 72 supertalls (300-599 meters tall) in the top 20, compared to the rest of the world with 13 cities, 2350 skyscrapers and 67 supertalls.
China’s prominence in the world of skyscrapers—with three cities in the top five globally—is likely to remain unchallenged, especially with the expected dominance of high risers in Hong Kong’s Northern Metropolis development, slated for completion in 2036.
In Hong Kong, the tallest building is the 484-meter-tall International Commerce Center which has 108 floors for the Ritz Carlton hotel, offices and retail outlets. It is also the 14th tallest building in the world.
This is followed by Two International Finance Center reaching 415 meters and home to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority which is housed from the 77th to 88th floors of the building. And third on the list is Central Plaza in Wanchai which is 374 meters tall with 78 floors of office space. On the 75th floor is a church – iSEE Church, formerly known as the Sky City Church – which is the tallest church in the world.
But tall buildings bring their own problems, especially with urban planning. In this regard, Hong Kong has long addressed the problem of the "Wall Effect" high risers present and instead has transformed its vast skyline into a global leader in sustainable construction.
The Hong Kong Planning Department has introduced strict Urban Design Guidelines and Sustainable Building Standards to break up the long rows of uniform high-rises. Developers are required to leave wide gaps, known as "breezeways," between tall buildings so that these air corridors enable natural sea breezes to flow through, cooling the streets and dispersing vehicle exhaust.
Also, the collaborative effort between the government and the construction industry has established Hong Kong as an internationally recognized hub for green high-rises. New buildings, for example, are required to allocate between 20 and 30 per cent of their site to green spaces, leading to high-rise developments featuring lush sky gardens, green roofs, and vertical planting walls that help absorb heat.
A classic example of this is The Henderson in Hong Kong’s busy central business district, which ranks it among Asia’s greenest skyscrapers, having achieved a top-tier Platinum certification for its smart, zero-carbon cooling systems and resilient layouts.
The certification process was conferred by the LEED global rankings of sustainable and environmental friendly buildings which placed Hong Kong sixth worldwide (and fourth in Asia) for meeting its strict criteria.
The verticalization of Hong Kong is necessary because of severe shortage of land. About 43 per cent of the total land area falls within the protected areas such as country parks, marine parks, wetland, sites of special scientific interest, and water gathering grounds. These areas are either statutorily protected or highly restricted from development. Development can only go up. But this has also bought a premium on land supply and price.
All land in Hong Kong is owned by the government, except where St John’s Cathedral stands, which was granted a freehold in perpetuity to the Church of England in 1847. The government leases and grants land for ownership for long periods of time, generally about 50 years or more. Land is released for development in a timely manner depending on demand generally through auctions. So for the current quarter, only one piece of land for residential use will be offered for sale in Kowloon to provide for some 250 high-rise flats.
The measured land release comes as Hong Kong’s residential market shows signs of recovery after years of downturn and when the government has lowered its land premium revenue target for the 2026-27 financial year to about HK$18 billion (US$2.3 billion).
For the current quarter, supply would also include more than 3,000 units from the first Northern Metropolis large-scale land disposal project in Hung Shui Kiu. The government aims to award the tender during the next week or so.
The Hung Shui Kiu pilot site marked the first land sale under the government’s new large-scale land disposal model for the Northern Metropolis.
Again, all of the once fertile agricultural and fish pond land in the Northern Metropolis will be transformed into a sea of high rise futuristic buildings to keep Hong Kong at the top of the skyscraper ratings for many years to come.
