HONG KONG: The Chinese mainland and Hong Kong are increasingly interdependent economically and the economic ties continue to strengthen, experts told the Global Times on Tuesday. “Undoubtedly, the mainland and Hong Kong economies are on the same path, and this feature is becoming more and more evident,” Cheng Shi, senior economist at ICBC International Research Ltd who is based in Hong Kong, told the Global Times on Tuesday. “The biggest influence the mainland economy has exerted on Hong Kong is the introduction of the Internet economy, while the biggest influence from Hong Kong on the mainland is subtle education about how to be a mature investor,” Cheng said. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to China and the closer linkage between the mainland and Hong Kong financial systems, particularly with the launch of several financial trading connectivity mechanisms in recent years, is a reflection of the mainland intensifying its economic relations with Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong-Shanghai Stock Connect, which allows mutual stock trading between Hong Kong and Shanghai, was implemented in November 2014, and a similar stock connect mechanism between Hong Kong and Shenzhen was launched in December 2016. “The launch of the stock link schemes not only fulfill the requirements of China’s economic opening-up policies, but are also an inevitable result of the fact that the mainland and Hong Kong’s business cycles are becoming increasingly synchronous,” Cheng told the Global Times. According to Cheng, the stock link mechanisms have enabled Hong Kong investors to share in the mainland’s financial bonuses, while helping the mainland financial market become more stable thanks to the participation of mature investors from Hong Kong. Shao Yu, a senior analyst at Shanghai-based Orient Securities, said that the stock links help mainland investors to learn about more complicated trading strategies from Hong Kong.
According to Shao, the stock linkage mechanisms also increased the similarities between Hong Kong and the mainland’s stock markets. “For example, mainland investors nowadays like to invest in blue-chip stocks, which is a traditional investment strategy on the Hong Kong bourse,” he told the Global Times on Tuesday. Cheng said that Hong Kong stocks are currently performing better than mainland stocks because they are supported both by mainland and international capital. “In the long run, the Hong Kong and mainland stock markets will generate a lot of synergy,” he noted.
