Hong Kong sees GDP decline amid China factors. (Photo : Getty Images)
Hong Kong took a hit from China’s economic slowdown and Wang Jianlin’s decision to bring Wanda Group’s stocks to the mainland, among other things, bringing the city close to losing being China’s Wall Street.
A Bloomberg report featured how Hong Kong's economy became as fragile as it is today, noting the possible reasons for China's Wall Street's biggest decline in gross domestic product since 2011.
According to the report, the city took a hit after property sales recorded a 25-year low and HSBC decided not to relocate its headquarters to Hong Kong and stay in London instead.
Aside from that, Singapore overtook Hong Kong in the Z/Yen Group's semiannual ranking of financial centers in March, followed by the Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties' decision to suspend its trade shares.
All these came amid the economic slowdown in mainland China, the city's mother country.
Turn of Events
While all of the abovementioned events contributed to Hong Kong's current financial state, Bloomberg noted that Wanda's action had particularly hit the city the hardest.
"Wanda's action was especially significant because of the identity of its controlling shareholder," the report explained, further noting that the step Wang took had "shot across" traders, bankers and tycoons who see Hong Kong as among the world's greatest financial hubs. Wang Jianlin, 61, Asia's second-richest person, is worth $33 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
"The news took everyone by surprise," CIMB Securities' Hong Kong-based analyst Raymond Cheng stated.
Hong Kong's Youth Took Blame
Of course, China's economic slowdown had also contributed to Hong Kong's decline even though its residents consider other more internal reasons for the shift.
"The very slowdown on the mainland that's put the brakes on Hong Kong has at the same time spurred an acceleration in Beijing's efforts to lure foreign investment by opening up its financial system," Bloomberg stated.
According to the South China Morning Post, the "closed minds" of Hong Kong's youth are a major threat for the city's future.
SCMP correspondent Regina Ip believes that by championing independence from the mainland, the youth of Hong Kong are moving away from the means for their city to survive and thrive in the coming years.
"Students who have not had the occasion to earn their living care little about how Hong Kong is going to maintain its standard of living in the years to come," Ip wrote, adding that their "efforts to build a great wall of separation from mainland China" by complex and simple means "is fatuity of the highest order."
