Hong Kong and the Big Deal That is the Greater Bay Area

From the onset of major market reform in China under Deng Xiaoping, Hong Kong has acted as a guiding light and entrepôt for the rest of mainland China. Now, the financial centre finds itself at a critical juncture as the rest of the nation begins to converge with the city in respect to trade, commerce and overall economic development. With that said, how does Hong Kong manage integration with the rest of China while still upholding the principle of ‘One Country, Two Systems’? A system which has helped it to continue to thrive as an economic centre for Asia for all these years. How Hong Kong deals with this could serve as a case study for all of China on economic transition, as, upon closer inspection, the issues that threaten to compromise the city’s development, are not actually all that different from the Mainland. Hong Kong: A City of Extremes The picture of Hong Kong is very much not unlike that of China, or most of the developed world for that matter. An aging population (with a median age of 44.4 years, Hong Kong currently plays host to the ninth oldest population in the world) is contributing to a shortage of labour and innovation, while sky high house prices and staggering levels of income inequality hold the potential to unravel […]