LCQ6: Benefits of attracting enterprises to Hong Kong
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Question:
Regarding the benefits of attracting enterprises to Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of new jobs created each year in the past three years by enterprises which came to Hong Kong with the assistance of Invest Hong Kong, and among them, the number of positions at managerial and professional levels; the respective proportions of Hong Kong permanent residents recruited to fill such positions; whether the Administration has proactively tracked and verified the implementation by such enterprises of their original plans regarding the number of staff to be employed and new positions to be created; if so, of the respective proportions of enterprises that fell short of and those that met the originally planned numbers;
(2) whether it has compiled statistics on the cost-effectiveness brought to Hong Kong by the enterprises that have set up operations in Hong Kong and their intra-company transferees in the past three years, including a comparison of the relevant tax revenue and the pull effect on the economy in such areas as local consumption, the food and beverage sector, the retail sector and the residential rental market, as well as the demand pressure that such personnel have imposed on local public service costs; and
(3) whether the Government will, when attracting non-local enterprises and providing them with land grant subsidies or tax concessions, consider incorporating the recruitment and nurturing of local talent, promotion of technology transfer, as well as provision of work or internship opportunities for local students as assessment criteria, so as to enable local personnel to gain more development opportunities; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) has all along been committed to attracting Chinese Mainland and overseas enterprises from different sectors to set up or expand their businesses in Hong Kong. InvestHK provides them with one-stop customised support services, from planning to implementation. Such services include providing market information and guidance on industry regulations, assisting in identifying office premises and recruiting staff, introducing business partners and service providers, and providing publicity and promotional support. At the same time, InvestHK provides aftercare support services to clients that have successfully established a presence in Hong Kong, and proactively encourages them to expand their businesses in Hong Kong.
Our reply to the question raised by the Hon Ken Lee is provided below:
(1) Over the past three years (i.e. from 2024 to the end of September 2026), InvestHK has assisted more than 1 600 Chinese Mainland and overseas enterprises in setting up or expanding their businesses in Hong Kong. It is estimated that these enterprises will bring in direct investment of over $200 billion to Hong Kong and create more than 28 000 local job opportunities in total. Of these job opportunities, it is estimated that more than 20 per cent will be high value-added positions such as managerial or professional posts, including chief executives, research and development personnel, accounting and finance personnel, operations managers, and professional positions in different fields.
To continuously enhance the economic contribution of enterprises after their establishment in Hong Kong, InvestHK will provide aftercare support services to clients that have completed their establishment in Hong Kong in a timely manner. During this process, the Department will systematically engage with the enterprises to gain an in-depth understanding of their latest operations, including the progress of their job creation plans and staff recruitment, their plans to expand offices and stores, and explore new business areas in which the enterprises may further expand in Hong Kong. At the same time, the Department will also introduce to the enterprises Hong Kong's latest policies and opportunities, thereby consolidating and increasing their investment in Hong Kong.
Although the Department maintains communication with the enterprises concerned, the enterprises recruit staff according to their own operational needs, and the relevant employment situation may change from time to time. InvestHK does not have comprehensive and real-time data for Members' reference. Nevertheless, we understand that most of the staff recruited are Hong Kong permanent residents.
Going forward, InvestHK will continue to implement the key performance indicator announced in the 2025 Policy Address, which is to attract at least a total of 1 200 Chinese Mainland or overseas enterprises to set up or expand their businesses in Hong Kong within the two-year period of 2026 and 2027, thereby bringing in direct investment of at least $120 billion and creating at least 12 000 job opportunities. Currently, the relevant work is in good progress. InvestHK has assisted around 550 enterprises to set up or expand their businesses in Hong Kong in the first nine months of this year.
(2) As mentioned above, over the past three years, InvestHK has assisted more than 1 600 enterprises in setting up or expanding their businesses in Hong Kong. These enterprises are mainly from sectors such as innovation and technology, financial services and financial technology, family offices, and tourism and hospitality. They are expected to bring in direct investment of over $200 billion to Hong Kong in total. These achievements are also reflected in the continuous rise in the total number of companies based in Hong Kong in recent years. According to the latest "Report on Annual Survey of Companies in Hong Kong with Parent Companies Located outside Hong Kong" conducted by InvestHK and the Census and Statistics Department, there were 11 070 Hong Kong-based companies from the Chinese Mainland and overseas in 2025, representing a year-on-year increase of about 11 per cent and a record high. The number of people employed reached 509 000, representing a year-on-year increase of about 3 per cent. Among these Hong Kong-based companies, there were also more than 1 500 regional headquarters, representing a year-on-year increase of about 7 per cent. This is conducive to further consolidating Hong Kong's status as an international financial, trade and shipping centre, enabling it to perform its role as a control tower, driving high value-added supply chain activities in various sectors, and promoting the robust development of Hong Kong's overall economy.
In addition to bringing substantial investment and creating a large number of local jobs, the establishment of enterprises in Hong Kong also generates service demand in ancillary sectors such as retail, catering, transport, residential property and commercial premises. In addition, many of the enterprises assisted by InvestHK come from sectors relating to people's livelihood. Among the 560 projects completed by InvestHK in 2025, about 120 of them (about 21 per cent) were from sectors such as retail, catering, e-commerce and trading, representing a year-on-year increase of more than 20 per cent. These enterprises broaden the range of products or services available to Hong Kong residents, thereby enhancing their overall quality of life.
As for the relevant tax revenue, the assessable profits for profits tax of different enterprises are affected by different factors. In addition, apart from listed companies, enterprises generally do not disclose to the public their data such as profits tax assessment notices and assessable profits. InvestHK does not have the relevant data.
(3) Last year's Policy Address announced the establishment of the Steering Committee on Preferential Policies for Attracting Industries and Investmentled by the Financial Secretary to formulate preferential policy packages to promote industry development and investment, thereby attracting high value-added industries and high-potential enterprises to set up in Hong Kong and promoting high-quality development of Hong Kong's economy. The committee will consider factors such as resources invested by the enterprises, related economic benefits and development potential, to formulate dedicated preferential policy packages. These may cover land grant, land premium concession, financial subsidies and tax concessions, so as to attract international and national brands and strategic enterprises to establish business operations in Hong Kong. On tax concessions, the Government plans to provide concessionary tax rates of 5 per cent or half-rate for individual enterprises operating in key sectors such as finance, advanced manufacturing, research and development in innovation and technology, headquarters activities and logistics and supply chain management. The relevant legislative amendment bill will be introduced to the Legislative Council by the end of this year.
In considering the granting of the above preferential policies to enterprises, relevant policy bureaux will, in consultation with InvestHK or the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises, conduct detailed analysis of and give in-depth consideration to the enterprises' investment plans, including the enterprises' scale, nature, business plans and other case-specific factors. If needed, the committee may also impose additional conditions, such as requiring the enterprises to introduce new technologies to Hong Kong or make investment of a specified amount, so as to ensure that the proposed concessions can achieve the policy objective of attracting high value-added industries and high-potential enterprises to Hong Kong.
Ends/Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Issued at HKT 15:30
Issued at HKT 15:30
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