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» Hong-Kong-&-Macau-Articles » Reading: "The Rise of Hong Kong"
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| The Rise of Hong Kong |
By:
Robert Hsu |
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I'm writing to you today from one of my favorite cities in the world -- New York City. My plane landed at JFK around 1:30 this morning after a six-hour flight from Los Angeles.
I was very hungry when I landed because I hadn't eaten dinner, and I was in the mood for a late night Chinese supper. Instead of heading directly to my hotel in midtown Manhattan, I went to my favorite late night Chinese restaurant in New York, Sunway Café, in Flushing, Queens. On the East Coast, Flushing is the best neighborhood for authentic ethnic Chinese food. In fact, the food in Flushing is even better than in New York's Chinatown!
It's a popular Chinese custom to eat a late night meal known as xiao yeh. That's why many restaurants in major Chinese communities are open very late -- including Sunway Café. My favorite New York eatery didn't let me down. I had a meal of good Cantonese food with chilled and freshly squeezed watermelon juice at 2:30 in the morning. The food at Sunway is almost as good as the xiao yeh restaurants in Hong Kong, another of my favorite cities (and another city that never sleeps).
Speaking of Hong Kong, there are some exciting things going on there right now. The city just celebrated the 10th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule. Up until July 1, 1997, Hong Kong was a crown colony of the United Kingdom.
At the moment, Hong Kong is the richest city in China and a major international center of finance and trade. According to data collected by noted economist Milton Friedman, the average per capita income in Hong Kong jumped from 28% of that in Britain to 137% in the 40 years that preceded its return to Chinese rule.
It's amazing that the residents of this city have achieved a level of income one-third higher than the residents of their former colonial ruler. That same entrepreneurial spirit is driving the economic miracle taking place on Mainland China today, now that the government has opened the door for private enterprise.
With its own currency and central bank, Hong Kong has a per capita GDP over $30,000 -- ranking number-two in Asia and roughly on par with Japan -- and is a successful showcase of free enterprise economics. Hong Kong also has one of the flattest and lowest tax rates among developed economies as well as the highest concentration of billionaires per capita.
One Country, Two Systems, Major Growth
Things have changed a lot in Hong Kong during the past 10 years since the city was returned to Chinese rule. Ten years ago, many people in Hong Kong were unhappy about the city's handover to China. Given Beijing's totalitarian and militaristic regime, it's easy to understand why. Many people in Hong Kong did not trust Mainland China to leave their free enterprise system alone.
But they did leave it alone, instituting the "one country, two systems" policy, which allows Hong Kong to keep its capitalist economic and political systems until the year 2047. And as a result, Hong Kong has flourished. We've heard a lot about China's amazing 11% growth rate; Hong Kong's is actually not far behind. GDP grew by an impressive 7.3% in 2005, on top of an 8.6% surge in 2004.
Ten years ago, people from Mainland China were treated with disdain in Hong Kong. But today, Mainlanders who visit the city -- many of whom are big spenders -- are more popular. The people of Hong Kong now recognize that their prosperity depends largely on integration and support from the Chinese economy.
And the government in Beijing has already proved its support. It helped Hong Kong weather two of its most challenging problems during the past decade -- the Asian Financial Crisis of 1998 and the SARS epidemic of 2003. In addition, last year several giant Mainland Chinese companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which surpassed the New York Stock Exchange in IPO capital-raising for the first time in history.
To commemorate anniversary of the city's handover to China, Hong Kong is currently holding a massive celebration that started in April and will run until December. More than 460 special events will be held, including nightly firework displays over Victoria Harbor. I'll be visiting Hong Kong next month, and I'm looking forward to partaking in the festivities.
Cashing in on Hong Kong's Success
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