Removing market barriers and increasing UK-Hong Kong trade were at the top of the agenda on British minister Dominic Johnson’s visit to Hong Kong this week.
This week, Hong Kong received a visit from Lord Dominic Johnson, the UK’s Business and Trade Minister, in what was the first visit of its kind in five years to the city by a senior member of British government. His trip involved a series of meetings with Hong Kong executives.
The aim of the visit by the minister was to promote the UK’s shared interests with Hong Kong, and to advocate for the UK being a leading destination for investment and trade from Hong Kong.
“Hong Kong is one of the world’s leading international financial centres and we have shared interests from financial services to infrastructure to sustainability,” he wrote on Twitter.
Back in 2018 was the last time that any senior figures from UK government visited Hong Kong on official business, when the then-UK secretary of state for international trade, Liam Fox, and former first minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, conducted a visit.
Minister focused on investment plans in Britain
Another meeting was held with CK Hutchison chairman, Victor Li, and co-managing director, Canning Fok, where they considered the port investor and operator’s plans to invest in the UK.
Johnson also wrote a piece in the South China Morning Post recently where he covered Britain’s position on Beijing, saying that while the UK would engage with China and Hong Kong, it would stand up for its values “and be clear about our right to act when Beijing breaks its international commitments or abuses human rights”.
“As a co-signatory to the Joint Declaration, we will continue to stand up for the people of Hong Kong, to call out the violation of their freedoms, and to hold China to their international obligations.”
Hong Kong leader welcomed minister
Hong Kong’s chief executive, John Lee, said that he welcomed the visit from the British Minister this week, stating that he valued “international cooperation” and adding: “Some countries, because of political reasons, make certain moves to satisfy their own political interests.” He didn’t make clear which countries he was referring to.
“Hong Kong has all along been an open society, and we have all along attached great importance to regional and international cooperation,” Lee said.
Promoting business, trade and people-to-people relationships through the British minister’s visit was welcome, Lee told a press conference.
Over the past two years, huge numbers of people – an estimated 144,500 – have left Hong Kong and relocated to the UK, making use of a new national security law that was brought in at that time. This involved the launch of an emigration scheme for BNO (British National (Overseas)) passport holders.
BNO passports were issued to Hong Kong residents before the handover, meaning that anyone holding such a passport – or their dependents – can now live and work in the UK for up to five years. For many, this will provide a pathway to permanent residency and British citizenship.
It has boosted investment from Hong Kong into the UK, with higher numbers of people looking to buy property in the country for either investment purposes, to live in, or often as somewhere for children or relatives to live while they study in the UK.
BuyAssociation specialises in finding the right properties for investors from across the globe, with a dedicated Hong Kong team working with buyers from the city. Get in touch for more information.
