Despite shifting geopolitics and rising uncertainty, foreign companies and investors are staying invested in China, with many recalibrating their strategies to adapt to the country’s technology-driven industrial upgrade and evolving supply chains, while continuing to view the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as a prized gateway and a source of opportunity in its own right, panelists said at the 19th Asian Financial Forum on Tuesday.
In his keynote speech, Liu Haoling, president of China Investment Corp — one of the world’s largest sovereign investors — highlighted the advancement and adoption of artificial intelligence, and the resilience of Chinese supply chains as two intertwined trends reshaping global business.
Chinese manufacturers are climbing the value chain by embracing advanced technologies, helping to lower costs while adding reliability to global supply chains, Liu said during a panel discussion at the forum in Hong Kong. He added that China’s dominance in renewable energy and its open-source large language models are increasingly contributing to the global energy transition and broader access to AI.
Amid these dynamics, Sjoerd Leenart, chief executive officer of Asia Pacific at JP Morgan, said China remains “an enormously large opportunity” for many of their foreign clients, even as companies rethink how to grow.
Companies are increasingly adopting “more of a bespoke approach” to tap into China’s technology and innovation, rather than treating the market primarily as a manufacturing and sales base, Leenart said, citing automakers’ push to be part of the whole value chain, retailers’ expansion into lower-tier cities and consumer companies’ portfolio adjustments as examples.
“We definitely have a lot of discussions with companies (about) how to amend their model, but they see the opportunity and want to stay invested. That’s for sure,” Leenart said.
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Herbert Diess, chairman of the supervisory board at German chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG, said the high-profile semiconductor industry is probably the most international business besides the financial sector, where “no nation would be able to do the most advanced loads alone and the idea of ‘decoupling’ is a kind of big venture.”
The world’s second largest economy today stands as the biggest market of automotive semiconductors and renewable energy. “So we are here to stay. We have high market share, and we are continuously investing,” Diess said.
As foreign firms navigate the Chinese mainland market, Hong Kong plays an “incredibly important” role as a gateway, Leenart said, adding that the world-renowned financial hub has much to offer.
“The DNA is here, whether it’s asset management, or venture capital, or trading businesses. This is also a real competitive advantage that Hong Kong has over other regional centers,” he said.
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Adam Gagen, global head of government affairs at Revolut, the United Kingdom’s largest fintech and Europe’s largest digital bank, said the company has set its sights on Hong Kong as it weighs 18 banking licenses across multiple jurisdictions worldwide.
Gagen said he was impressed by the concerted efforts Hong Kong has made over the past 18 months to attract innovative financial services and technology companies, citing the closer coordination between regulators, government agencies and industry bodies that “really puts Hong Kong back on the map”.
“What Hong Kong has done is a very pragmatic approach at the center, and it’s really got itself into the spotlight of businesses like ours,” Gagen said. “It’s not just selling itself as an entry into the Chinese mainland, but in and of itself as a place where you can serve businesses and serve customers. We’re excited to see what it does next.”
Contact the writer at sophialuo@chinadailyhk.com
