HONG KONG - Bankers and investors fear China's push to impose national security laws on Hong Kong threaten the city's future as an international financial centre. If it gets to that stage, Beijing's move will come at a cost for China's economy.China still has extensive capital controls and often intervenes in its financial markets and banking system. Hong Kong is one of the world's most open economies and one of the biggest channels for equity and debt financing.
These freedoms give Hong Kong a special international status -- for instance, it does not have to pay the U.S. tariffs currently hitting Chinese imports. While China has reformed its markets over the years, over 60% of foreign direct investment into and out of China continued to be channeled through Hong Kong as of 2018, according to Morgan Stanley.
Schemes linking stock exchanges in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Shenzhen provide the main gateway for foreigners to buy mainland stocks. A planned opening up of Chinese capital flows only increases the importance of these channels, and ultimately, Hong Kong, Fidelity said in a post this week.Chinese banks hold more assets in Hong Kong -- $1.1 trillion in 2019 -- than lenders from any other region, according to Hong Kong Monetary Authority's data compiled by Natixis.
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