CHINA MUST REIGNITE ENTHUSIASM IN BUSINESS LEADERS
Understandably, as the mainland’s economy has risen, Hong Kong’s importance has waned. What has made the matter worse is that the sentiment towards some of those business leaders has turned ominously negative over the past 10 years, partly due to the political wrangling in Hong Kong and partly due to the ideological shift on the mainland. That those magnates no longer enjoy the same access to the leadership in Beijing does not help either.
For instance, Li, the city’s most prominent tycoon and once lauded as a “superman” in China for his vision and acumen, faced withering attacks from the mainland’s social media platforms, particularly during the violent protests engulfing the city in 2019.
As Hong Kong struggles to recover from the three years of COVID-19 restrictions and navigate an increasingly grave geopolitical environment, Ronnie Chan Chi-chung, another prominent tycoon, has publicly stated that the objective of most companies should be to survive, not thrive: “There are simply too many risks, known and unknown, to take an aggressive stance on expansion.”
It is safe to assume that Chan’s views are widely shared by the business community in Hong Kong.
This is something that should demand the fullest attention from China’s leaders. The influence of the likes of Li and Chan is not just local but international. Many international investors would take their cue from these business leaders when it comes to investing in China. If they advise caution, the international business community will be even more cautious.
To turn around the sentiment of the global investment community, China’s leaders should first work harder to reignite the interest and enthusiasm of Hong Kong’s business leaders, like Beijing did 45 years ago.
Wang Xiangwei is a former editor-in-chief of the South China Morning Post. He now teaches journalism at Baptist University. This commentary was first published on SCMP.
