Hong Kong Chinese Financial Groups (1841-2020)

The origin of Hong Kong's Chinese-funded financial groups can be traced back to the development of Chinese compradors represented by Nan Bei Hang and Jin Shan Zhuang and those attached to foreign-funded companies. By the end of the 19th century, with Hong Kong established as a transit port for Far East trade, Chinese-funded financial groups began to emerge in real estate, shipping, retail department stores, and even banking sectors. In the 1960s and 1970s, with the rapid pace of Hong Kong's industrialization, emerging Chinese businesses not only gained dominance in the manufacturing industry, but also gradually gained the upper hand in a series of important industries such as shipping, real estate, hotels, and film and television entertainment. Subsequently, emerging Chinese businessmen represented by Li Ka-shing and Pao Yue-kong successively acquired British-funded companies such as Hutchison Whampoa, Kowloon Wharf, Hong Kong Electric, and Wellcome. Chinese-funded real estate companies such as New World Development, Sun Hung Kai Properties, and Henderson Land Development also transformed into large conglomerates, breaking the long-term monopoly of British-funded financial groups and becoming an important economic force in Hong Kong. After 1997, with the integration and development of Hong Kong and the mainland Chinese economy, Chinese businessmen in Hong Kong came across extensive investment opportunities, especially in the mainland market. In this context, Chinese-funded financial groups that are based in Hong Kong, have broken through geographical restrictions and developed into large enterprises with national, diversified, and even international scopes of businesses. During this period, the Hong Kong Chinese capital consortiums not only became the largest capital force in the Hong Kong economy, but also played an important role in sustaining the prosperity and stability of the Hong Kong’s economy, promoting economic cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland. The history of Hong Kong’s Chinese-funded consortiums is actually a vivid slice of Hong Kong's modern political and economic history. From it, we can understand the profound changes, development trend and changing laws of Hong Kong over the past 170 years, and be inspired in historical and realistic contexts.