Economy
With its strategic location at the doorway to the Mainland of China and in a time zone that bridges the gap between Asia and Europe, Hong Kong serves as a global centre for trade, finance, business and communications.
Hong Kong is characterised by a high degree of internationalisation, business-friendly environment, rule of law, free trade and free flow of information, open and fair competition, well-established and comprehensive financial network, superb network of transport and communications infrastructure, sophisticated support services, and a well-educated workforce complemented by a pool of efficient and enterprising entrepreneurs. It has one of the busiest airports in terms of number of passengers and volume of international cargo handled and one of the busiest container ports. Added to these are substantial foreign exchange reserves, a fully convertible and stable currency, prudent fiscal reserves and a simple tax system with a low tax rate.
Hong Kong is firmly committed to free trade. It is one of the founding members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and continues to be a full member on its own under the principle of “One Country, Two Systems”.
Hong Kong has risen to 3rd place in the World Bank Group’s latest Doing Business 2020 study, which rates 190 economies in terms of the ease of doing business.
More information about Hong Kong's economy can be found here.
International Rankings
Hong Kong has achieved impressive progress as Asia's world city, which is reflected in various international rankings covering a range of areas:
Enconomy and business
- World's freest economy (Canada-based Fraser Institute: Economic Freedom of the World 2025 Annual Report)
- World No. 3 and Asia-Pacific No. 2 for competitiveness (International Institute for Management Development (IMD): World Competitiveness Yearbook 2025)
Finance
- World No. 3 and Asia-Pacific No. 1 global financial centre (UK-based Z/Yen and China Development Institute from Shenzhen: Global Financial Centres Index released in March 2025)
- Leading investment hub: World No. 4 and World No. 5 for foreign direct investment inflows and outflows respectively in 2023 (UNCTAD: World Investment Report 2024)
Innovation and Technology
- No. 1 innovation cluster (Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou) out of the top 100 (Global Innovation Index 2025 by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO))
- Asia-Pacific No. 2 and World No. 4 for digital competitivenes (IMD: World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2025)
Transport and infrastructure
- World No. 1 air cargo hub and World No. 9 busiest airport for international passengers (Airports Council International: World busiest airport rankings 2024)
- World No. 1 public transport system (2025) (Time Out magazine index survey)
Education and talent
- Five universities in World Top 100 and Top 20 in Asia: Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2026 and Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2025
- Asia No. 1 and World No. 4 for talent competitiveness (IMD: World Talent Ranking 2025)
Safety, security, rule of law, leisure
- World No. 3 most preferred seat for arbitration (Queen Mary University of London: International Arbitration Survey 2021)
- World No. 4 and Asia No. 1 global city (Schroders Global Cities Index 2024)
More information about Hong Kong's international rankings can be found here.
Asia's world city
Hong Kong's high degree of connectivity, globally and with the Mainland of China, helps people and businesses achieve excellence in their chosen fields. With its strategic location at the doorway to the Mainland and within four hours flight distance to all Asian key markets, Hong Kong serves as a global centre for trade, finance, business and communications.
Under "one country, two systems", Hong Kong is a free port and open economy in the heart of Asia offering convenient access to vast markets in the Mainland of China and ASEAN. With sound fundamentals, a strategic geographical location, advanced soft and hard infrastructure and world-class talent, Hong Kong is Asia's world city – a place where people and businesses from around the world can connect with opportunities throughout the region.
International Financial Centre
As a leading international financial centre, Hong Kong has a prudent and robust financial regulatory regime.
The Linked Exchange Rate System (US dollar peg) has served Hong Kong well as the pillar of monetary and financial stability.
The financial sector provided about 269 100 jobs (7.3% of employment) in 2023 and directly contributed 24.9% to Hong Kong's GDP in 2023.
More information about Hong Kong's professional financial and banking services can be found
here.
Trade Partnerships
The Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) – a free trade arrangement on closer economic and trade partnership signed in 2003 – opens up huge markets for the Hong Kong trade on goods and services and greatly enhances the already close economic cooperation and integration between Hong Kong and Mainland China. CEPA is nationality-neutral and provides a platform for companies based in Hong Kong, both domestically- and foreign-owned, to tap into the huge opportunities in Mainland China.
More information about CEPA can be found here.