Following is a question by Dr the Hon So Cheung-wing and a written reply by the Acting Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Dr Bernard Chan, in the Legislative Council today (October 22):

Question:

     The Chief Executive pointed out earlier on that as of the end of July this year, the total number of registered local companies in Hong Kong was over 1.5 ‍million, whereas registered non-Hong Kong companies exceeded 15 000, both reaching all-time highs. Furthermore, between January 2023 and July this year, Invest Hong Kong assisted 1 333 enterprises in setting up or expanding their businesses in Hong Kong, bringing in direct investment of $174 billion and creating over 19 000 jobs within the first year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the number of non-Hong Kong companies registered in Hong Kong over the past year, with a breakdown and proportion by (i) type of offices (i.e. regional headquarters, regional offices and local offices), (ii) country of origin, and (iii) industry; of the Government's specific targets for attracting multinational enterprises to establish regional headquarters or regional offices in Hong Kong for the coming three years;

(2) given that the number of registered non-Hong Kong companies has hit a record high, how the Government will leverage this advantage to formulate medium and long-term planning so as to continuously promote the development of headquarters economy, including implementing specific measures to assist companies set up in Hong Kong in "going global"; and

(3) given that some members of the business sector have relayed that non-Hong Kong enterprises have been facing numerous difficulties and challenges after setting up business in Hong Kong, including high premises costs, loss of international talents and difficulty in capital deployment, of the corresponding strategies adopted by the Government to address the issues, including whether it will consider designating land in the Northern Metropolis to establish a "designated zone for headquarters economy" so as to assist incoming enterprises in establishing a presence in Hong Kong and facilitate them to maintain close liaison with other Mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area?

Reply:

President,

     In response to Dr the Hon So Cheung-wing's question, after consulting the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB), my consolidated response is as follows:

     As at the end of September this year, the total number of local companies and non-Hong Kong companies registered under the Companies Ordinance reached 1 519 103 and 15 614 respectively, both of which were all-time high figures.

     Besides, according to the annual survey jointly conducted by Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) and the Census and Statistics Department, the number of companies in Hong Kong with parent companies located outside Hong Kong also reached a record high level of 9 960 in 2024, including 1 410 regional headquarters, 2 410 regional offices and 6 140 local offices. Analysed by place of origin, the top five were the Chinese Mainland (2 620 companies), Japan (1 430 companies), the United States of America (1 390 companies), the United Kingdom (720 companies) and Singapore (520 companies). Analysed by major line of business in Hong Kong, the top five were import/export trade, wholesale and retail (4 730 companies), financing and banking (2 020 companies), professional, business and education services (1 530 companies), transportation, storage and courier services (730 companies) and information technology services (500 companies).

     From 2023 to September this year, InvestHK assisted over 1 400 Chinese Mainland and overseas enterprises to set up or expand businesses in Hong Kong. They are expected to bring in direct investment of around $194 billion and create over 20 000 job opportunities. InvestHK has completed in advance the key performance indicator (KPI) (Note) as set out in the 2022 Policy Address.

     The above-mentioned fruitful results not only fully demonstrate the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government's investment promotion achievements, but also reflect that Chinese Mainland and overseas enterprises continue to have full confidence in Hong Kong and have selected Hong Kong as their base to expand regional businesses in Asia despite geopolitical impact. In the 2025 Policy Address, the new KPI is to attract at least 1 200 Chinese Mainland or overseas enterprises to set up or expand businesses in Hong Kong between 2026 and 2027, thereby bringing in direct investment of at least $120 billion and creating at least 12 000 job opportunities. InvestHK will continue to plan and attract proactively non-local enterprises and capital to come to Hong Kong.

     Regarding difficulties encountered by enterprises when setting foot in Hong Kong, InvestHK is dedicated to offering them one-stop customised support services, from planning to implementation stages. To strengthen support for enterprises to cope with their difficulties and challenges, InvestHK set up last year, with the support of the Financial Secretary, an inter-departmental/agency referral mechanism led by the Director-General of Investment Promotion. By proactively collecting and analysing Chinese Mainland and overseas enterprises' concerns and pain points when they plan to establish presence in Hong Kong, InvestHK reflects them to relevant bureaux, departments or agencies accordingly for exploring suitable solutions as appropriate. Since the establishment of the mechanism around a year ago, various issues have been successfully addressed to meet the needs of the trade, including opening of bank accounts, application and work arrangements for imported workers, application for use of vacant land, thereby assisting Chinese Mainland and overseas enterprises to set up and expand their businesses in Hong Kong.

     As for promoting headquarters economy, the Government will capitalise on the unique advantages of Hong Kong as an international financial centre to attract more enterprises from the Chinese Mainland and around the world to establish corporate treasury centres in Hong Kong. In this regard, as pointed out in the 2025 Policy Address, the FSTB is conducting a study on tax concessionary measures to be further enhanced, and targets to complete the study in the first half of next year. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority will also encourage the banking sector, especially banks in the Chinese Mainland, to establish regional headquarters in Hong Kong, where Hong Kong's strengths can help them expand into Southeast Asian and the Middle East markets, thereby providing more comprehensive cross-boundary financial solutions.

     In addition, the company re-domiciliation regime commenced on May 23, 2025. A company incorporated outside Hong Kong may apply to the Company Registry for re-domiciliation to Hong Kong. The regime reduces the need to go through complicated and costly judicial procedures, and enables a re-domiciled company to maintain its legal identity as a body corporate, thereby ensuring business continuity. An applicant for company re-domiciliation is required to fulfil requirements concerning company background, integrity, member and creditor protection, solvency, etc.

     As announced in the 2025 Policy Address, the Financial Secretary will lead the relevant policy bureaux, departments and public organisations in formulating packages of preferential policies, including land grants, land premium, financial subsidies and tax incentives, to attract high value-added industries and high-potential enterprises to set up in Hong Kong. InvestHK and the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises can flexibly use the policy packages during negotiations with enterprises on settlement details, and then report to the Financial Secretary for approval. This will, at the same time, tie in the industry development of the Northern Metropolis, for proactively attracting high value-added industries and high-potential enterprises to set up in Hong Kong, thereby promoting high-quality development of Hong Kong's economy.

     On supporting Chinese Mainland enterprises in going global, the 2025 Policy Address announced the establishment of a one-stop platform by mobilising Hong Kong offices abroad, including those under InvestHK and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), as well as Hong Kong offices in the Chinese Mainland, and setup of the Task Force on Supporting Mainland Enterprises in Going Global (GoGlobal Task Force) to encourage Chinese Mainland enterprises to use Hong Kong as a platform to go global. The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development steers the work of the GoGlobal Task Force and coordinates various bureaux (including the FSTB), departments and agencies in formulating diverse proposals for enterprises looking to go global. InvestHK will coordinate and support the work by the GoGlobal Task Force, and through collaboration with the HKTDC and other agencies, engage with small and medium-sized enterprises from the Chinese Mainland, promoting to target enterprises Hong Kong's advantages as a go global platform by various channels and providing them with comprehensive and customised support services based on their needs.

     On October 6 and 14, we officially launched the GoGlobal Task Force and convened the first meeting of the Steering Committee for the GoGlobal Task Force to discuss work strategies respectively. Going forward, the GoGlobal Task Force will commence various aspects of work progressively, including organising large-scale promotional events in the Chinese Mainland to promote work of the GoGlobal Task Force.

     Looking ahead, InvestHK will continue to work with relevant policy bureaux. On the one hand, it will promote Hong Kong as a springboard for overseas businesses for accessing the Chinese Mainland market, and support them to establish presence here so as to promote headquarters economy and develop the Northern Metropolis. On the other hand, it will also promote Hong Kong to Chinese Mainland enterprises as a go global launchpad and assist them in setting up their businesses in Hong Kong. The efforts will also be organically integrated into the work of the GoGlobal Task Force, thereby enhancing two-way investment (viz. attracting investment inflows to Hong Kong and facilitating further investment beyond Hong Kong).

Note: The KPI in the 2022 Policy Address requires attracting at least a total of 1 130 enterprises to set up or expand their businesses in Hong Kong from 2023 to 2025, thereby bringing in direct investment of at least $77 billion and creating at least 15 250 job opportunities.

Ends/Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Issued at HKT 17:33

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