Around 400 Hong Kong businesses are exhibiting at Shanghai’s China International Import Expo, a record number.
Fourteen technology companies from the Northern Metropolis and the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park were exhibiting for the first time, i-CABLE reported. One company developing AI fitting technology wanted to show international executives Chinese technology applications. Its founder pointed to mainland clothing, textile and AI supply chains, and described Hong Kong as the base for taking the business global.
The Hong Kong Trade Development Council set up an outbound-services zone at the expo. Its chairman, Frederick Ma Si-hang, said Hong Kong’s financial, accounting, legal and arbitration services could help mainland companies enter overseas markets. He also said Hong Kong products and services had advantages in the mainland market.
A Hong Kong accounting firm exhibiting for the first time had seen a 30% rise over the previous year in mainland clients seeking to expand overseas, RTHK reported. Man Law, chief executive of the firm’s Greater China division, said overseas expansion had become a practical necessity for managing risk and driving growth. Businesses with a Hong Kong office and staff could use the city’s double-taxation-avoidance agreements when expanding into Southeast Asia or investing in other foreign markets; at their peak, tax savings could exceed 50%.
A Hong Kong craft brewery was looking for mainland distributors and customers. Its marketing director said Hong Kong had previously accounted for 80% of the business. The company’s one-year target is for exports to reach 50%.