Shanghai Poses Grave Threat To SAR Status, Says Official

by Carla Johnson, Investors Offshore.com

01 November 2001

According to the Assistant President of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the SAR is in danger of being overtaken by the mainland city in the race to become the regional financial hub.

Fang Xinghai said that the jurisdiction is disadvantaged in that it lacks the necessary connections with Beijing, has a smaller economic hinterland, and does not pay tax to the mainland. In addition, designating Shanghai as the region's pre-eminent financial centre would raise the standards across the mainland, according to Mr Fang.

'This is a political manouevre. You need to make yourself have access to the centre, to persuade the government to choose you to be its financial centre,' he told the East Asia Summit of the World Economic Forum. However, he assured the conference that he was not saying that Hong Kong was of no use to the mainland: 'Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about Hong Kong having nothing to provide to China,' he explained. 'But we are talking about who can provide more financing to China's growth.'

The Director of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, Dannis Lee Jor-hung hit back at his rival's claims, arguing that the jurisdiction still had a lot to offer the region, despite having suffered slightly in the popularity stakes. He pointed to the fact that the SAR has been an international financial centre with no capital controls for many years while Shanghai still has capital controls and restrictions on foreign investors, as an important advantage. The exchange chief also insisted that Hong Kong's internationally recognised legal system and listing rules, coupled with the best corporate governance standards in the Asian region make it a strong contender for the front position.

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