ABSTRACT
The rise of Hong Kong, China as an important entrepôt and international financial center (IFC) in the 1970s was considered one of the remarkable achievements in Asia (Jao 1997). As a colonial freeport, Hong Kong, China was an important trading center for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since the 1950s. But by 1989, the financial sector (19.5% of GDP) overtook the manufacturing industry (19.3% of GDP) in terms of its contribution to GDP. Although there were apprehensions about the success of Hong Kong, China on reversion to the PRC on 1 July 1997, Hong Kong, China has continued to thrive with the financial sector gaining strength in scale and depth. Hong Kong, China has a well-developed financial system with a significant banking sector (accounting for 39.9% of total financial market size in 2014) and a dynamic equity market (54.2%), followed by a relatively smaller debt securities market (5.9%) (Table 3.1).
