Hong Kong has logged record-high company registration figures, with close to 1.5 million local firms registered in the city as of June, according to the latest official data.
The number of non-Hong Kong companies registered under the Companies Ordinance and opening offices in the city had also reached an all-time high of 15,509 by the end of June, the Companies Registry (CR) said on Friday.
In the first half of this year, Hong Kong saw 84,293 newly registered local firms and 761 overseas companies set up a place of business in the city, the latest CR figures show.
Close to 50,000 local companies deregistered, and 378 non-Hong Kong firms ceased to operate in the city over the same period, according to an HKFP tally based on the figures.
The CR attributed the increase in company registrations to two amendments made to the Companies Ordinance in the first half of this year, which the government says aim at facilitating local business and attracting overseas enterprises and investments.
The first amendment, effective April 17, has facilitated listed companies incorporated in Hong Kong to hold or sell the shares they have bought back from the market. The second amendment, effective May 23, has offered non-Hong Kong corporations a streamlined route to re-domicile in the city.
Hong Kong has launched a drive to attract international business amid global trade uncertainty triggered by US President Donald Trump’s tariff wars.
Last month, Chief Executive John Lee likened the city’s economic outreach efforts to “chasing a girl.” Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern countries are Hong Kong’s priority for deepening trade ties as the city is attempting to reduce its reliance on the US market, he said in the interview with the South China Morning Post.
The CR did not provide a breakdown of the origins of the non-Hong Kong companies that have set up shop in the city.
Unemployment figures
Meanwhile, the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) said on Thursday that Hong Kong’s latest unemployment rate stood at 3.5 per cent in the April to June period, while the underemployment rate also remained unchanged at 1.4 per cent.
The number of unemployed persons was 136,200 in the April to June period, up 400 from the March to May period.
Increases in the unemployment rate were mainly seen in the construction sector and the food and beverage sector, the C&SD said in a press release.
The construction sector logged a 6.8 per cent unemployment rate in April to June – up 0.5 per cent from the March to May period. The latest figure for the food and beverage sector was 6 per cent – up 0.3 per cent from the previous period.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun said that “various industries in Hong Kong are undergoing transition,” but “the continued expansion of the Hong Kong economy should provide support to the labour market.”
