This book provides an overview of Hong Kong’s role as an international financial centre, focusing especially on how Hong Kong has contributed significantly, and continues to contribute significantly, to China’s economic development. It considers the importance of Hong Kong’s stock market in raising finance for Chinese companies, explores the potential of Hong Kong as an offshore financial centre, and discusses recent regulatory reforms. It concludes by assessing the prospects for Hong Kong’s continuing success as a global financial centre, and puts forward recommendations for policies which would help secure continuing success.
Hong Kong is a small city with a big reputation. As mainland China has become an 'economic powerhouse' Hong Kong has taken a route of development of its own, flourishing as an entrepot and a centre of commerce and finance for Chinese business, then as an industrial city and subsequently a regional and international financial centre. This volume examines the developmental history of Hong Kong, focusing on its rise to the status of a Chinese global city in the world economy. Chiu and Lui's analysis is distinct in its perspective of the development as an integrated process involving economic, political and social dimensions, and as such this insightful and original book will be a core text on Hong Kong society for students.
This is a case study of legal transplant, economic development, cultural adaptation and political integration. Hong Kong's journey from British entrepôt to China's international financial centre is one of the most interesting legal stories of our time. But Hong Kong's future is even more interesting: will this region with British-origin institutions survive full integration into China and become its permanent international financial centre? Does Hong Kong have the legal infrastructure to compete effectively with Shanghai and Singapore, and even New York and London? A Financial Centre for Two Empires presents Hong Kong's story, examines its corporate economy and securities market, assesses its corporate, securities and tax laws for doctrinal soundness and appropriate remedies, and evaluates the quality of their enforcement empirically. It closes with a view of Hong Kong from the perspective of developments in Beijing and Shanghai, including an examination of the important political dimension.
As well as marking the tenth anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the consequent unleashing of the global financial crisis, 2018 is also the year of negotiations on the terms of the UK's exit from the European Union. Within a decade the banking world has witnessed two epochal events with potential to redraw the map of international financial centres: but how much has this map actually changed since 2008, and how is it likely to change in the near future? International Financial Centres after the Global Financial Crisis and Brexit gathers together leading economic historians, geographers, and other social scientists to focus on the post-2008 developments in key international financial centres. It focuses on the shifting hierarchies of New York, London, Paris, Geneva, Zurich, Frankfurt, Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, and Tokyo to question whether Asian financial centres have taken advantage of the crisis in the West. It also examines the medium-effects of the crisis, the level of regulation, and the rise of new technology (fintech). By exploring these crucial changes, it questions whether shifts in the financial industry and the global landscape will render these centres unnecessary for the functioning of the global economy, and which cities are likely to emerge as hubs of new financial technology.
RESPATIALISING FINANCE ‘In Respatialising Finance Sarah Hall uses the internationalisation of the Chinese Renminbi (RMB) to work through a sympathetic conceptual and empirical critique of prevailing analyses of International Financial Centres (IFCs). Her conceptual (re)framing stresses the politics, institutions and economics of IFCs and will be essential reading for all social scientists interested in the dynamism of contemporary finance and financial centres.’ Professor Jane Pollard, Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS), Newcastle University, UK ‘Through detailed study of Chinese RMB internationalisation and combining analytical insights from economic geography, sociology, and international political economy, Sarah Hall shows why offshore networks anchored in territories such as the City of London are both core to global monetary and financial landscapes, and provide a key terrain for state power and politics.’ Professor Paul Langley, Department of Geography, Durham University, UK Respatialising Finance is one of the first detailed empirical studies of how and why London became the leading western financial centre within the wider Chinese economic and political project of internationalising its currency, the renminbi (RMB). This in-depth volume examines how political authorities in both London and Beijing identified the potential value of London’s international financial centre in facilitating and legitimising RMB internationalisation, and how they sought to operationalise this potential through a range of market-making activities. The text features original data from on-the-ground research in London and Beijing conducted with financial and legal professionals working in RMB markets and offers an original theoretical approach that brings economic geography into closer dialogue with international political economy. Recent work on territory illustrates how financial centres are not simply containers and facilitators of global financial flows – rather they serve as territorial fixes within the dynamic and crisis-prone nature of global finance.
This book provides unique insights into the politics of finance and the socio-political relations which drive financial policymaking in Hong kong, Singapore, and Shanghai. While the existing literature in the field focuses mainly on economic explanations for financial centre development, this book fills a gap by focusing on the socio-political relations which underpin the financial policy-making process. Drawing on extensive interviews with senior policy-makers and financial sector professionals, the book describes how state-industry relations drive financial policy-making in three major financial hubs. Insights and policy recommendations drawn from these interviews will be particularly useful for policy-makers and financial sector professionals hoping to draw lessons from the successful development of the three leading Asian financial centres. Business and Politics in Asia's Key Financial Centres draws on public policy theoretical frameworks for its analytical basis. The three chapters focusing on the historical development of Hong Kong, Singapore, and Shanghai also provide a consolidated narrative with regard to the development of these three cities as leading financial centres, while also serving as independent case studies. Scholars focusing on policy processes and political factors that underpin financial sector development, as well as instructors and students of public policy, international political economy, and financial sector policy, will find this book useful for their research.
This book explores the manifold ways that the current confrontations between China and the US, and political tensions within the Special Administrative Region (SAR) has brought Hong Kong to the forefront of emerging political frictions between Beijing and the territory and growing international rivalry between the two powerful nations of the world. Unlike the situation in the post-WWII decades, which witnessed the internationalisation of the Hong Kong economy, this “New Cold War” poses challenges to the SAR’s status as a global city and international financial and business centre. The enactment of the National Security Law and the growing presence of Beijing in regulating the SAR’s domestic affairs triggered strong reactions from many countries. Hong Kong has to bear some of the consequences of measures imposed onto China as a result of current controversies. The shadow of China also raises many eyebrows about the prospects of Hong Kong as a free and liberal city. And the outbreak of COVID-19 and the concomitant interruption to economic flows and the movement of people further complicate the situation. This book will be of great value to students and scholars in the fields such as Economics, Sociology and Asia Pacific studies. The chapters in this book were originally published in the Asia Pacific Business Review.
The City, as London's financial centre is known, is the world's biggest international banking and foreign exchange market, shaping the development of global capital. It is also, as this groundbreaking book reveals, a crucial part of the mechanism of power in the world economy. Based on the author's twenty years' experience of City dealing rooms, The City is an in-depth look at world markets and revenues that exposes how this mechanism works. All big international companies-not just the banks-utilize this system, and The City shows how the operations of the City of London are critical both for British capitalism and for world finance. Tony Norfield details, with shocking and insightful research, the role of the US dollar in global trading, the network of British-linked tax havens, the flows of finance around the world and the system of power built upon financial securities. Why do just fifty companies now have control of a large share of world economic production? The City explains how this situation came about, examining the history of the world economy from the post-war period to the present day.
'Gateways to Globalisation makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the emerging East Asian regional system of financial centres within the broader global context and how they interact within the global circuits of finance. In particular, it focuses on the emergence of the financial centres of Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore and the attempts by both national governments and the private sector to position them so that they become more competitive in the global and regional context. The volume shows much historical sensitivity showing that while the increase in the importance of these financial centres is principally post 1945, their emergence has been aided by the deep historical roots that go back several centuries. The book will be of great value in the interpretation of the role of East Asia in what many commentators have called the "Asian Century".' – Terry McGee, The University of British Columbia, Canada 'Gateways to Globalisation cogently demonstrates that Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, and Tokyo operate as gateways to Asia and as linchpins for Asia to the global economy. The authors' theoretical frameworks and original empirical research support provocative findings that challenge conventional thinking. Tokyo may decline as a global city. As Beijing and Shanghai ride China's rapid growth they face uncertainty about its future openness to the global economy. Vibrant Hong Kong and Singapore confront challenges from other rising centers.' – David Meyer, Washington University in St Louis, US 'This book distinguishes itself in its emphasis on historical and cultural links as well as contemporary globalization processes on large East Asian cities. Arising from a research program and four seminars, the editor has picked scholars who can relate past and present trends. Historical links of Japanese cities are explored. Leading world cities in the region are analysed in their evolution from entrepôts to modern gateways, service integrators, transport hubs and financial centres. It is a study of the integration and interrelationships of East Asian cities in the global economy.' – Yue-man Yeung, Chinese University of Hong Kong Asia's trading and financial hubs have become global cities which frequently have more in common and closer linkages with each other than with their corresponding hinterlands. As this book expounds, these global cities illustrate to what extent world trends deeply penetrate and permeate the national territorial interiors and processes that were otherwise presumed to be controlled by the State. Gateways to Globalisation is soundly based on accurate and extensive research (including perspectives from historians, economists, geographers and sociologists) from China, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong, in order to grasp the regional character of trade and finance, beyond national borders and traditional academic frameworks. The book documents that today, major urban centres such as Tokyo, Beijing, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai situated on the periphery of the maritime corridor of East Asia, form a system characterised by the intensity of their economic linkages and integration into the world economy. Since the mid-1980s, these major Asian cities have become the worldwide-oriented centres for production, trade, finance and research. This collective effort offers, in addition to its regional framework, up-to-date information that strengthens an original trans-disciplinary analysis of a region and its economic characteristics, which will be of interest to readers within academia and beyond. This well-detailed and thorough work will interest academics and post-graduate students in economics, geography, finance, history, regional studies and Asian studies, as well as those who have a general interest in globalisation.
This revised fifth edition of Doing Business with China has been updated to take into account key changes in the legal and fiscal environment. It remains the most comprehensive guide available to all aspects of commercial engagement in China. It focuses on developments in China as business and regulatory environment over the past four years since WTO entry and on the key industry sectors where China is already a global player or which offer good opportunities for foreign investment and trade. In addition, the guide provides authoritative insight into accounting, auditing and taxation practices; banking, foreign exchange and corporate finance; and marketing issues which are unique to the Chinese markets. Revisions include updates to chapter's on economic performance and outlook, China's Securities Market and sector reports on China's automotive indutry, banking, oil and gas and steel production and core minerals."
