In the run-up to the launch of the Shanghai free-trade zone, Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong’s richest tycoon, sparked a debate by saying that China’s growing engagement with the world would have a significant long-term impact on Hong Kong’s competitiveness.
Beijing had initially pledged to use the zone, a 29 sq km area that includes Shanghai’s port, as a testing ground for reforming the country’s inefficient financial sector, and partially liberalising shipping and legal industries, as well as various cultural services.
Immediately, a wide range of foreign companies, ranging from video-game makers Nintendo and Sony, to the London Metals Exchange and global art auction houses, began expressing visible enthusiasm.
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