Twenty-two strategic enterprises have signed agreements with the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES) to open or expand operations in Hong Kong.
The latest group marks the sixth cohort under the government’s flagship investment attraction initiative since its launch in 2022, bringing the total number of strategic partners to more than 120.
The South China Morning Post looks at who the latest companies are and the anticipated economic impact.
1. Who are the corporations?
Pfizer, a leading global research-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, is among the biggest names in the latest cohort.
Amgen, one of the world’s largest independent biotechnology firms, was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in California.
Other companies in the life and health technology sector include German firm Boehringer Ingelheim, mainland China’s Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals and HAYA Therapeutics.
In the transport sector, the government has secured commitments from Chinese ride-hailing giant DiDi and Shanghai-based electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) manufacturer AutoFlight.
Among cloud computing firms establishing a presence in the city is LightSpeed Studios, Tencent Games’ global development arm, which uses Tencent Cloud’s technology stack for development, operations and global scaling.
2. Which of the latest enterprises have the highest valuations?
Pfizer and Amgen have some of the largest valuations among the publicly listed companies in the group of 22. Pfizer has a market capitalisation of about US$156.7 billion, while Amgen stands at US$191.5 billion, according to Yahoo Finance data.
Beijing-headquartered fabless semiconductor firm Hygon Information Technology has a market capitalisation of 604 billion yuan (US$88.5 billion), while Hong Kong-listed Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals is valued at HK$429.9 billion (US$54.9 billion).
Other publicly listed companies include artificial intelligence firm MiniMax, with a market capitalisation of HK$285.5 billion; Tianqi Lithium Corporation, valued at HK$239.5 billion; and French multinational software company Dassault Systèmes, with a market capitalisation of US$30 billion.
3. What is the total investment and expected economic impact?
Speaking at the signing ceremony on Monday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said the 124 strategic enterprises were expected to bring in HK$73 billion in investment and create around 25,000 jobs.
This is up from HK$60 billion in investment and 22,000 expected jobs when the previous batch was announced last November.
Many of the jobs in the latest cohort are expected to be “high-value positions” in research and development, as well as management, Chan said.
Of the 124 enterprises, about 75 per cent have established or will establish their regional or global headquarters in Hong Kong.
Chan added that nearly 90 per cent had set up research and development centres in the city, or will do so soon, while collectively occupying about 2.6 million square feet of commercial and industrial space.
4. How does OASES drive Hong Kong’s broader economic strategy?
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced in his 2022 policy address that OASES would be set up under the Financial Secretary’s Office to attract high-potential strategic enterprises from around the world.
The office is part of a broader government push to reinvigorate Hong Kong’s position as an international hub, following an exodus of companies during the Covid-19 pandemic and the uneven economic recovery that followed.
OASES focuses on sectors such as life and health technology, artificial intelligence and data science, financial technology, and advanced manufacturing and new energy – all identified by the government as key to diversifying the city’s economy.
Notable companies that have previously partnered with OASES include international biopharmaceutical research company GlaxoSmithKline, Arm China – the Chinese unit of British semiconductor firm Arm Holdings – and Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote.