Global companies need a high-performance platform to enter the Chinese mainland and, to reduce risk, a local partner who can help them through its very complicated maze. Hong Kong provides both.

Before China began opening in 1978, Hong Kong ranked number 23 in world trade. Trade with China was 6 per cent of our total trade. The corresponding figures today are tenth rank (just behind the Netherlands, and just in front of the Belgium) and 37 per cent. In gaining this market share, we accumulated a tremendous "first-mover" advantage in the mainland. Once, Hong Kong's special franchise was to be the gateway to a closed China. Now, with China's further opening, our premium is successfully managing entry risk for people doing business with China. That is our special value-added. Many overseas companies do not have a great appetite for risk, especially smaller firms. Hong Kong, by contrast, has a huge appetite for managing risk.

Hong Kong reduces uncertainty, because everything we do is predictable, reliable and, nowadays, just-in-time. Time is an element that Hong Kong manages well. If you cannot manage time, you cannot manage risk.

The free flow of information is another factor that reduces risk. Information is power. Hong Kong has a free press, free flow of information and a free flow of intelligence about doing business in Asia. If you have difficulties operating in the Chinese mainland or anywhere else in the region, Hong Kong is where you can ask the tough questions and, more often than not, find the answers.