Can Hong Kong maintain its status amid protests despite Beijing’s push to turn Shenzhen into a financial hub?
- In a series of in-depth articles on the unrest rocking Hong Kong, South China Morning Post goes behind the headlines to look at the underlying issues, current state of affairs, and where it is all heading
- In this latest instalment, The Post looks at speculation that anti-government protests will mean Hong Kong runs the risk of being replaced by Shenzhen as the financial heart of the Greater Bay Area
As Beijing has whipped up the vitriol against Hong Kong’s anti-government protesters and exerted pressure on companies to act against “offenders”, it has also instituted a plan to elevate neighbour Shenzhen into a global model socialist city that it hopes will lead the nation into its next level of development.
The conflicting perspectives on the two cities that share a border may fuel speculation that if Hong Kong does not soon toe the line, it runs the risk of being replaced by Shenzhen as the financial heart of the Greater Bay Area. But in reality, it would be a tall order for Shenzhen to pull even as a financial centre, let alone overtake Hong Kong.
Unlike Shenzhen, an emerging global technology hub operating under a hybrid planned and market economy system, Hong Kong has thrived on free flow of capital, trade and information, as well as the rule of law.
“[But] Hong Kong and Shenzhen to a certain extent, cannot be compared … for a start, the legal structure is not the same,” he said. “In the short term, I can’t see how Shenzhen can replace Hong Kong.”
