Hong Kong can help mainland firms ‘break through’ US trade barriers: John Lee

Hong Kong will play a bigger role in providing mainland Chinese enterprises with supply chain services, enabling them to access emerging markets and “break through the US blockages”, the city’s leader has vowed.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu also said on Friday that Hong Kong’s value to international investors and capital had increased under the “US tariff hegemony”, with the city viewed as key to tapping the vast mainland market.

Lee’s remarks were delivered in an opening speech at an investment and cooperation forum held in Ningbo, an industrial hub and port city in China’s technology stronghold Zhejiang province, amid the escalating tariff war in which the US imposed a 145 per cent tariff on most Chinese goods.

The Friday event was held a day after Hong Kong signed a deal and established a cooperative mechanism with Zhejiang province, confirming 13 key areas for collaboration covering trade and investment, fintech and aviation.

“A new economic and trade order is being reshaped,” Lee told the forum, saying that the “indiscriminate imposition of bullying tariffs” by the US and the rise of unilateralism had brought damages and risks of recession to the global economy.

“International capital and major financial institutions will pay more attention to Hong Kong, using its open platform to tap into the mainland market and avoid risks from the US,” Lee said.