Hong Kong firms must innovate to compete in mainland China, trade chief says

Hong Kong companies can survive intense competition in mainland China by being innovative and maintaining high standards, the head of the city’s trade promotion body has said.

Hong Kong Trade Development Council chairman Frederick Ma Si-hang said on Friday that the city was also tapping into emerging markets in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa to counter global trade uncertainties.

“I feel that Hong Kong manufacturers need to be more innovative; think of ways to use our strengths to penetrate this huge mainland consumer market,” he said.

“We need to know what their tastes are before we can penetrate this market.”

Ma was speaking on the sidelines of the ninth China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, which has attracted more than 400 Hong Kong exhibitors this year.

He said businesses should capitalise on Hong Kong’s unique advantages, including the “one country, two systems” governing principle. The city’s professional services providers could also use their expertise to help mainland companies expand globally.

He added that Hong Kong was exploring emerging markets to counter global trade uncertainties following the elections in the United States.

“We have seen that many emerging markets are actually giving Hong Kong a lot of momentum, and growth is relatively strong,” he said.

“While we must take care of our traditional markets on one hand, on the other hand, we are also exploring some emerging markets, such as Central Asia, the Middle East and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.”

Ma said the council would open an office in Egypt next year to expand its promotional network in Africa amid geopolitical shifts.

He added that Hong Kong was catching up fast in innovation and technology, which would allow closer cooperation with the mainland.

“The artificial intelligence trend will not stop, and there is a trend that China’s development might be faster than the United States,” he said.

Ma cited views that the US election results could slow the country’s technological progress while China continued to advance rapidly.

He also expressed hope that Hong Kong would overtake London in global financial centre rankings next year. He pointed to what he described as the city’s achievement in surpassing Switzerland in wealth management, saying this was “not simple”.

Standard Chartered’s CEO for Hong Kong, Greater China and North Asia, Mary Huen Wai-yee, said the Shanghai expo highlighted the Chinese market’s immense potential.

She added that the bank was helping businesses connect with the world as China continued to open its market.

“This year, Standard Chartered continues to act as a superconnector, showcasing innovative results in areas such as cross-border trade, wealth management and sustainable finance, using the power of finance to connect China and the world,” she said.

“The import expo allows the world to share the dividends of China’s development and also shows the huge potential of the Chinese market.”