| In
this Section:
-
HONG KONG BANKING AND
FINANCIAL SERVICES
- HONG KONG THE SECURITIES
MARKET
- HONG KONG VENTURE CAPITAL
SECTOR
- HONG KONG INVESTMENT FUND
MANAGEMENT
- HONG KONG FINANCIAL HOLDING
AND INVESTMENT ACTIVITIES
- HONG KONG HEADQUARTERS
COMPANIES
- HONG KONG BOOKING
CENTRE COMPANIES
- HONG KONG PROFESSIONAL
SERVICES
- HONG KONG INSURANCE
- HONG KONG SHIP MANAGEMENT
AND MARITIME OPERATIONS
The
chief factors driving Hong Kong's economic success
are a combination of its non-discriminatory low
tax regime under which only income derived from
or arising in the jurisdiction is taxable and
its geographical proximity and historical entrepot
role for western trade with and investment into
mainland China.
This
section of the site describes the most important
types of international business activity carried
out from the SAR.
While
Hong Kong has a large and vibrant local business
community, it is also home to the largest community
of multinational firms in Asia. This is in part
due to the territory's colonial roots, which have
for the past 150 years made it the natural hub
in Asia for British companies, and, in part, to
its consistent and longstanding reputation for
openness, simplicity of operation and institutional
familiarity. As a result, more than 5,000 multinational
companies maintain regional offices or headquarters
in the territory.
Hong
Kong is one of the world's leading centres for
overseas firms. Over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies
have a presence in the territory. The American
Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, with more than
1,100 corporate members, is the largest American
Chamber outside of North America. The Japanese
Chamber in Hong Kong reports that more than 2,000
Japanese companies operate from the territory.
There
were 47,417 new local companies registered under
the Hong Kong Companies Ordinance in the first
six months of 2007, up 19.12% on the same period
last year, it has been announced.
Companies
Registry statistics show that 316 new overseas
companies established a place of business in Hong
Kong and registered under Part XI of the Companies
Ordinance in the first half of 2007, up 12.46%
on the same period last year.
The
total number of live companies registered at the
end of June was 622,318, up 30,374 on the end
of 2006. The total number of overseas companies
stood at 7,854 at the end of June, 145 more than
last year's total.
Hong
Kong is a major transshipment and re-export centre,
activities which in turn fuel strong demand for
trade support services such as banking and financing.
In the wake of the Asian financial crisis new
laws have been passed which encourage financial
transparency such as the Organized and Serious
Crimes (Amendment) Ordinance which came into operation
in June, 2000. The law requires money changers
and remittance agents to follow anti-money laundering
measures such as customer identification and keeping
transaction records for transactions over HKD8,000.
It has helped to prevent criminals from using
non-bank financial busineses as conduits for money
laundering.
-
HONG KONG BANKING AND
FINANCIAL SERVICES
- HONG KONG THE SECURITIES
MARKET
- HONG KONG VENTURE CAPITAL
SECTOR
- HONG KONG INVESTMENT FUND
MANAGEMENT
- HONG KONG FINANCIAL HOLDING
AND INVESTMENT ACTIVITIES
- HONG KONG HEADQUARTERS
COMPANIES
- HONG KONG BOOKING
CENTRE COMPANIES
- HONG KONG PROFESSIONAL
SERVICES
- HONG KONG INSURANCE
- HONG KONG SHIP MANAGEMENT
AND MARITIME OPERATIONS
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