In the Media

Will the US-China trade war further hinder global development? In May, the U.S. government announced raising tariffs on US$18 billion worth of Chinese imports, escalating the trade war. This follows the previous administration's "America First" approach, using tariffs as a main trade tactic.

Prof. Zhiwu Chen, Chair Professor of Finance at HKU Business School, commented, "In China, government policy is always crucial for private companies, both on their way up and now on their way down. Now, many private businesspeople understand that both economic and political reforms have to go hand in hand; without one, the other cannot sustain in the long run."

In a recent media interview, Prof. Heiwai Tang, Associate Dean of HKU Business School and Director of Asia Global Institute suggested three long-term directions to revitalize Hong Kong's economy: firstly, develop high value-added industries; secondly, enhance Hong Kong’s role as a bridge between mainland China and global markets; thirdly, optimize policies for nurturing and attracting talent.

Have you watched "Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In" yet? This local action movie, released earlier this month, ranks second in the box office among Chinese movies in Hong Kong's film history. Starting as a novel, it was turned into a comic series, then later adapted into a film. The commercial value of this creative franchise continues to rise, thanks to the business model of intellectual property (IP).

Prof. Zhiwu Chen, Chair Professor of Finance at HKU Business School, believes that Hong Kong's geopolitical neutrality is a favourable factor, "China can still rely on Hong Kong as the intermediary." In 2022, 72.56% of China's offshore investment came from Hong Kong. Prof. Zhenhua Mao, Professor of Practice at HKU Business School, highlighted Hong Kong's English-speaking environment and common law system are the city’s unique advantages in attracting foreign investment to China. However, he added that more research is needed on the challenges faced by venture capital and private equity firms investing in the country.

Are “green products” necessarily environmentally friendly? Not really. Since going green is beneficial to the brand and its profit, some companies will exaggerate the environmental protection effects of their products or services by providing false information to mislead the public. This is known as "greenwashing".

The government announced Hong Kong's 2024 Q1 real GDP YoY growth of 2.7%, down from last year’s 4.3%, reflecting moderate growth. In an interview with Now News, Professor Heiwai Tang, Associate Dean of HKU Business School and Director of Asia Global Institute explained the difference was caused by the pent-up demand after the pandemic.

As geopolitics intensifies, many mainland companies are relocating production lines to other countries to diversify investments. Prof. Heiwai Tang, Associate Dean of HKU Business School and Director of Asia Global Institute, mentioned in an interview with Commercial Radio Hong Kong that Hong Kong can seize this opportunity to position itself as a multinational supply chain management centre. By offering support services like logistics, import and export trading to mainland companies in operating business overseas, Hong Kong can foster the development of the headquarters economy.

In a recent paper published in Nature Biotechnology, Prof. Andy Back and his co-authors address this question by examining 2.3 million grants at the US National Institutes of Health from 1985 to 2017.