2023年,香港經(jīng)濟(jì)繼續(xù)在坎坷中前行。去年香港的經(jīng)濟(jì)增長率為3.2%,略低于經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家的預(yù)期,也遠(yuǎn)低于特區(qū)政府年初預(yù)測的4%到5%。疫情防控剛剛開放時的那一波旅游和零售業(yè)的報復(fù)性反彈也已經(jīng)逐漸回落。另外,中國宏觀經(jīng)濟(jì)增速低于預(yù)期,這也拖累了香港股市,香港恒生指數(shù)(Hang Seng Index)已經(jīng)跌至1997年7月,也就是香港回歸時的水平。
長期以來,香港經(jīng)濟(jì)的繁榮,首先有賴于它連接中西方經(jīng)濟(jì)的獨特地位。而近年來中美關(guān)系的惡化,也令香港的經(jīng)濟(jì)前景雪上加霜。
不過香港財政司司長陳茂波卻認(rèn)為,雖然國際環(huán)境變得愈發(fā)錯綜復(fù)雜了,但這只會讓香港的地位變得更加重要。
在3月27日于中國香港舉辦的《財富》創(chuàng)新論壇上,陳茂波對《財富》雜志的主編尚艾儷(Alyson Shontell)表示:“當(dāng)下這種地緣政治挑戰(zhàn)仍將持續(xù)很長時間?!?/p>
他說:“鑒于目前的形勢,香港在一國兩制架構(gòu)下的獨特地位將變得更加重要?!薄耙粐鴥芍啤笔侵赶愀刍貧w中國后,可以繼續(xù)實行與內(nèi)地不同的法律、監(jiān)管和經(jīng)濟(jì)制度,而且這種制度安排“50年不變”。最近幾個月,中國官員還曾經(jīng)指出,香港地區(qū)有可能會在2047年后繼續(xù)實行“一國兩制”。
陳茂波稱:“我們的商業(yè)制度和標(biāo)準(zhǔn)程序與中國其他地區(qū)是有區(qū)別的,所以香港是你們進(jìn)入中國大陸市場的一個天然平臺,同時香港也能夠成為你們進(jìn)入亞洲市場的一個跳板?!?/p>
另外,香港也在積極地在中國和歐美以外的市場開拓新的商機(jī)。陳茂波特別提到了中東地區(qū)。“中東地區(qū)的投資者對我們可能不太熟悉。我們甚至考慮通過香港投資有限公司(Hong Kong Investment Corporation,這是香港政府新成立的一家投資公司),共同為一些新項目提供種子資金?!?/p>
香港政府也在努力通過新的簽證政策吸引更多人才來港。現(xiàn)在,年收入超過250萬港元(約合32萬美元),或者從全球排名前100位的大學(xué)畢業(yè)的大學(xué)生,都可以獲得在香港工作和生活的簽證?!霸诟酃ぷ饕呀?jīng)不是必要條件了?!标惷ㄕf。
關(guān)于“23條”立法問題
至于西方國家有人擔(dān)心“23條”的立法問題有可能會給香港經(jīng)濟(jì)帶來負(fù)面影響,對此陳茂波也給出了回應(yīng)。
對于這項立法工作,陳茂波指出,根據(jù)香港基本法,特區(qū)政府有義務(wù)推動國家安全立法。“如果你仔細(xì)研究了‘23條’的立法問題,你就會發(fā)現(xiàn),這與英國等國家的司法實踐沒有什么區(qū)別。我們希望確保香港的穩(wěn)定和安全……這樣我們才能夠集中精力發(fā)展經(jīng)濟(jì)?!?/p>
雖然西方國家對“23條”立法頗有微詞,不過陳茂波表示,特區(qū)政府有必要“伸出橄欖枝”,邀請更多的人來香港。
“如果人們可以來這里投資、興業(yè)、賺錢、享受生活,那么我們就成功了?!彼f。(財富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:樸成奎
2023年,香港經(jīng)濟(jì)繼續(xù)在坎坷中前行。去年香港的經(jīng)濟(jì)增長率為3.2%,略低于經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家的預(yù)期,也遠(yuǎn)低于特區(qū)政府年初預(yù)測的4%到5%。疫情防控剛剛開放時的那一波旅游和零售業(yè)的報復(fù)性反彈也已經(jīng)逐漸回落。另外,中國宏觀經(jīng)濟(jì)增速低于預(yù)期,這也拖累了香港股市,香港恒生指數(shù)(Hang Seng Index)已經(jīng)跌至1997年7月,也就是香港回歸時的水平。
“承認(rèn)這一點讓我很痛苦,但香港現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)完了?!蹦Ω康だ麃喼迏^(qū)(Morgan Stanley Asia)的前主席斯蒂芬·羅奇在今年2月發(fā)表于《金融時報》(Financial Times)的一篇評論文章中這樣寫道。
長期以來,香港經(jīng)濟(jì)的繁榮,首先有賴于它連接中西方經(jīng)濟(jì)的獨特地位。而近年來中美關(guān)系的惡化,也令香港的經(jīng)濟(jì)前景雪上加霜。
不過香港財政司司長陳茂波卻認(rèn)為,雖然國際環(huán)境變得愈發(fā)錯綜復(fù)雜了,但這只會讓香港的地位變得更加重要。
在3月27日于中國香港舉辦的《財富》創(chuàng)新論壇上,陳茂波對《財富》雜志的主編尚艾儷(Alyson Shontell)表示:“當(dāng)下這種地緣政治挑戰(zhàn)仍將持續(xù)很長時間?!?/p>
他說:“鑒于目前的形勢,香港在一國兩制架構(gòu)下的獨特地位將變得更加重要。”“一國兩制”是指香港回歸中國后,可以繼續(xù)實行與內(nèi)地不同的法律、監(jiān)管和經(jīng)濟(jì)制度,而且這種制度安排“50年不變”。最近幾個月,中國官員還曾經(jīng)指出,香港地區(qū)有可能會在2047年后繼續(xù)實行“一國兩制”。
陳茂波稱:“我們的商業(yè)制度和標(biāo)準(zhǔn)程序與中國其他地區(qū)是有區(qū)別的,所以香港是你們進(jìn)入中國大陸市場的一個天然平臺,同時香港也能夠成為你們進(jìn)入亞洲市場的一個跳板。”
另外,香港也在積極地在中國和歐美以外的市場開拓新的商機(jī)。陳茂波特別提到了中東地區(qū)?!爸袞|地區(qū)的投資者對我們可能不太熟悉。我們甚至考慮通過香港投資有限公司(Hong Kong Investment Corporation,這是香港政府新成立的一家投資公司),共同為一些新項目提供種子資金?!?/p>
香港政府也在努力通過新的簽證政策吸引更多人才來港?,F(xiàn)在,年收入超過250萬港元(約合32萬美元),或者從全球排名前100位的大學(xué)畢業(yè)的大學(xué)生,都可以獲得在香港工作和生活的簽證?!霸诟酃ぷ饕呀?jīng)不是必要條件了?!标惷ㄕf。
關(guān)于“23條”立法問題
至于西方國家有人擔(dān)心“23條”的立法問題有可能會給香港經(jīng)濟(jì)帶來負(fù)面影響,對此陳茂波也給出了回應(yīng)。
上周,香港特區(qū)政府迅速通過了香港基本法“23條”的立法,從此,港府將對竊取國家機(jī)密、顛覆國家政權(quán)和外部干涉等行為追究刑責(zé)。這是香港動亂后,中國出臺“港區(qū)國安法”后,香港地區(qū)圍繞國家安全的又一次立法行為。
美英等一些國家都批評“23條”的立法打壓香港自由,違反了一國兩制架構(gòu)。但中國政府和香港特區(qū)政府官員都斥責(zé)這些批評是對中國內(nèi)政的干涉。
對于這項立法工作,陳茂波指出,根據(jù)香港基本法,特區(qū)政府有義務(wù)推動國家安全立法?!叭绻阕屑?xì)研究了‘23條’的立法問題,你就會發(fā)現(xiàn),這與英國等國家的司法實踐沒有什么區(qū)別。我們希望確保香港的穩(wěn)定和安全……這樣我們才能夠集中精力發(fā)展經(jīng)濟(jì)?!?/p>
雖然西方國家對“23條”立法頗有微詞,不過陳茂波表示,特區(qū)政府有必要“伸出橄欖枝”,邀請更多的人來香港。
“如果人們可以來這里投資、興業(yè)、賺錢、享受生活,那么我們就成功了?!彼f。(財富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:樸成奎
The Chinese city of Hong Kong had a rough 2023. Hong Kong’s economy grew by 3.2% last year, slightly slower than economists expected, and far below the government’s forecast of 4-5% at the beginning of 2023. A hoped-for post-COVID boom in travel and retail has fizzled out. A slower-than-expected Chinese economy is also dragging down the city’s stock market, with the Hang Seng Index now hovering around the level it was in July 1997, when the city returned to Chinese sovereignty.
“It pains me to admit it, but Hong Kong is now over,” Stephen Roach, the former chairman for Morgan Stanley Asia, wrote in a Financial Times opinion piece in February.
To make matters harder for Hong Kong, worsening tensions between the U.S. and China could put the squeeze on the city, which has long thrived on having links to both the Western and Chinese economies.
Paul Chan, Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary, is preaching a much different narrative: A more complicated international environment makes a place like Hong Kong essential.
“The geopolitical challenge will be there for quite some time,” Chan said in a conversation with Fortune editor-in-chief Alyson Shontell at the Fortune Innovation Forum in Hong Kong on March 27.
“Given the current situation, the unique status of Hong Kong, under the One Country, Two Systems structure, becomes even more important,” he said, referring to the structure in which Hong Kong will maintain legal, regulatory and economic systems apart from mainland China until 2047. In recent months, Chinese officials have suggested the system might persist beyond that date.
“We are different from the rest of China, in terms of our way of doing things in business, our standard procedures,” he said. “This is a natural platform for you to get access to the mainland market, and as a springboard for Asia at the same time.”
Still, Hong Kong is looking to markets outside of China, the U.S. and Europe for new opportunities. The Middle East in particular is a target for Chan. “This part of the world is less familiar to [Middle Eastern investors],” he said. “We even considered using the Hong Kong Investment Corporation [the city’s new investment company] to seed some of the new investments together.”
The Hong Kong government is also trying to attract more people to the city with a new talent visa, where those earning more than 2.5 million Hong Kong dollars ($320,000) a year, or graduates from one of the world’s top 100 universities, can get a visa to live and work in Hong Kong. “They do not need a job,” Chan noted.
National security
The city’s financial secretary also responded to concerns that Hong Kong’s new national security legislation could be a threat to its economy.
Last week, Hong Kong’s government speedily passed expanded ‘Article 23’ national security legislation, which criminalized acts like theft of state secrets, sabotage, and external interference. The new law follows an earlier national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020 after social unrest gripped the city in 2019.
The U.S. and U.K. governments, among others, have criticized the legislation as reducing Hong Kong’s freedoms and violating the One Country, Two Systems structure. (Officials in Hong Kong and Beijing have blasted such accusations as interference in Chinese internal affairs.)
Chan defended the new legislation on Wednesday, noting that the city was constitutionally obliged to pass a law of that nature. “When you scrutinize [the Article 23 legislation], it’s no different from leading jurisdictions like the U.K.,” he said. “We want to ensure stability and safety…so that we can concentrate our efforts to develop the economy.”
While Chan did cite “not very fair” storylines about Hong Kong, he said it was incumbent on the city’s government to “reach out” and invite more engagement.
“If people can come, make an investment, and make money, and for people to work on their career development and enjoy [their] lifestyle, then we will be able to succeed,” he said.