Hong Kong maintains 4th place in global financial centers index

HONG KONG, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong maintained the fourth place in an index of global financial centers published Thursday by British and Chinese think tanks, showing its resilience as a leading financial center despite challenges.

The Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) 34 report, released by British think tank Z/Yen Group and the China Development Institute in Shenzhen, showed that Hong Kong's overall rating increased notably.

"Hong Kong's global rankings in the four areas of business environment, human capital, financial sector development, and reputation and general have risen to fourth, reflecting recognition of Hong Kong's sustained strength and robustness as an international financial centre in the post-COVID era," said a spokesperson for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.

The spokesperson said that while encountering challenges, Hong Kong is proactively seizing unique opportunities, with advantages of being backed by the motherland and connected to the world under the "one country, two systems" principle.

"Hong Kong will continue to reinforce the impetus for strong growth and make good use of our institutional advantages, including a fine tradition of rule of law, a market-oriented and internationalized business environment, robust infrastructure support, internationally-aligned regulatory regimes, diverse financial products and services, and free flow of information and capital, to solidify Hong Kong's capital market and status as an international financial center," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that Hong Kong will continue to develop new markets, and explore more international cooperation opportunities, covering such areas as green finance and financial technology, with a view to continuously strengthening Hong Kong's competitiveness.

The GFCI Report is released in March and September every year since 2007. In GFCI 34, 121 financial centers were assessed and Hong Kong ranked the fourth globally with an overall rating of 741.