10 years after end of British rule, Hong Kong flourishing as gateway to China

[HongKongDisneyland]

South Florida trader Rodrigo Vera recalls doing business in Hong Kong a decade ago before the British handed the capitalist territory to communist-led China. Many executives were nervous, taking their money out of the Asian hub or securing citizenship elsewhere.

But 10 years after the July 1 hand over, Hong Kong is flourishing, thanks largely to China's economic boom.

Foreign companies are rushing in to use Hong Kong as a springboard into the Chinese mainland, the world's fastest-growing economy and soon to be the largest. And the Chinese are pouring in: companies to sell stock, and tourists to shop and visit Hong Kong Disneyland.

Vera is investing, too. This month, he bought a small logistics company in the sophisticated territory of skyscrapers and workaholics to help route shipments from China and other Asian nations for his Boynton Beach company, Southern Cross Building Products Inc.

"Hong Kong is super-dynamic," Vera said. The Asian gateway actively encourages business; operates both in English and Chinese languages; and boasts some of the world's most developed transport and financial services, he said.

Hong Kong's continued prowess under China's "one country, two systems" policy helps explain why Fort Lauderdale-based software giant Citrix Systems Inc. three years ago moved its Asian headquarters from Australia to Hong Kong.

It also underscores why Miami-based clothing marketer Perry Ellis International Inc. since 2003 keeps an office in Hong Kong with 60 employees and relies on that office to trouble-shoot operations all across Asia, said sourcing chief Bradley Arkin.

So many mainland Chinese companies are listing on Hong Kong's stock market that last year the exchange surpassed New York to become the world's No. 2 exchange for initial public offerings after London. And mainlanders made up more than half of the 25 million tourists to Hong Kong last year, including many who attended Hong Kong Disney, which opened in 2005 at a cost topping $3 billion.

Close ties with China spurred Hong Kong's economy to grow an average 7 percent yearly since 2004, among the world's highest rates.

Source : Sun Sentinel

[Ride Warrior]

Well, I hope that business continues to grow and thrive in China. the nation does have high economic potential, competitive within as well as in the global market. I hope that capitalism becomes so popular there that communism will be completely rejected. May the Chinese people prosper, and realize their hopes and dreams!