A total 413 companies established or expanded their operations in Hong Kong during the first half of this year, marking a 10 percent year-on-year increase, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced on Thursday.
These companies are expected to invest over HK$53 billion ($6.76 billion) in the city, up 36 percent from a year earlier, and create 8,600 new jobs.
About 60 percent of the firms are from the Chinese mainland, followed by Singapore, the United States and the United Kingdom. By sector, 93 companies come from the innovation and technology field, while 89 operate in financial services and fintech. Other major sectors include tourism and hospitality, transport and logistics, and business and professional services.
Lee said the figures are “more than reassuring” and underscore the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s appeal as “one of the world’s best economies to do business in and with”.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Invest Hong Kong-hosted International and Mainland Businesses Welcome Reception, Nina Barton, director of sustainability for Asia Pacific at multinational transport and logistics group DSV, said the company operates 14 locations in Hong Kong, covering warehousing, cold chain services, and air and sea freight centers, and has more than 1,000 employees locally.
She said DSV is considering further expansion in Hong Kong, potentially in the Northern Metropolis, which is a major development project that will cover about one-third of the city’s land area. Authorities are planning a 32-hectare modern logistics cluster within the zone.
“Hong Kong has grown from being, when we first started here almost 30 years ago, a local fulfillment location to an international hub,” Barton said. “We will continue to invest here to support not just Asia-Pacific, but also traditional markets like Western Europe and the US, as well as emerging markets such as the Middle East and Africa.”
Tirain Technologies, a Shaanxi-based data-services and software developer specializing in geographic information systems and remote sensing, and which established a Hong Kong subsidiary in 2023, is working on the Lands Department’s 3D Digital Map project and is part of the first batch of pilot projects under the city’s low-altitude economy regulatory sandbox for aerial photogrammetry testing.
Tirain President Chen Li said that Hong Kong’s high project standards have helped the company build international management capabilities and gain experience in global technical and compliance requirements, adding that the firm plans to use the city as a base to expand into Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Chen, who was part of the business delegation led by Lee to Central Asia earlier this month, told China Daily that the visit enabled the company to engage directly with high-level government agencies. In Kazakhstan, it connected with a remote sensing department under the national data authority and has since sent a team to explore cooperation. In Uzbekistan, it signed an agreement with the country’s land management authority.
Zijin Mining Group established several subsidiaries in the city after its listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2003, including Zijin Gold International. The unit went public last September, raising HK$28.7 billion in what was reported as the world’s largest gold mining IPO.
Leo Liao Jiansheng, vice-president of Zijin Gold International, said Hong Kong serves as a key hub in the company’s global operations, handling functions such as investment and financing, treasury management, gold asset integration, and overseas trade.
Also a member of Lee’s Central Asia visit, Liao said Zijin views the region a strategic investment destination and is in discussions with Kazakh partners on several projects.