Thats an incredibly simplified take on it. HK might not represent a large part of the chinese economy but it still facilitates a large part of foreign investment into chinese companies.
In CN there are largely three types of listings A shares, B shares and H shares. A & B are listed on SZ and SH exchange and are not freely traded like you know it from the west. H shares are listed on HK exchange and are freely traded using the Hong Kong Dollar.
This is why companies like Tencent are dual listed on Shanghai and Hong Kong exchange, to facilitate foreign investment that wouldnt be possible in the same way if Tencent was only listed as B class on Shanghai exchange.
If it were true, China would not have delayed its Anti-Sanctions Law in Hong Kong [1]. Hong Kong is huge in supporting the Finance of China.
> But the Hong Kong government can only welcome the stock listing opportunity to reinforce Hong Kong as the world’s premier IPO destination, especially at a time when the introduction of the national security law
has raised concerns about maintaining the city as a global financial hub.
But that is a myopic comparison. The strategic value of Hong Kong’s (semi)-open capital markets is that they act as a conduit between a totalitarian isolationist state and the rest of the world.
The US’s capital markets support international trade in a somewhat similar way, and are thus innately valuable even without accounting for the productivity of American workers.
Capital inflows to China are done through Hong Kong. HK is just a financial center for China. As far as the population goes, China could care less as long as they two the communist line.
It isn't exactly easy to leave your country, family, friends, and entire life behind. The UK did make it easier for HKers to get visas and relocation, but I think efforts like this only go so far in practice. Not enough people want to leave until it is too late. Because, and it is hard to blame them, they hope that their home will end up being saved by the many people fighting to preserve it. Leaving, in a way, is giving up.
We should also note that with the growth of Shenzhen and other mega cities, HK isn't that important to China anymore. That's part of why they've become more aggressive in the situation.
I had onsite interview with them (for software engineering intern position). I was rejected and their feedback was like that: your technical skills are very high but we are concerned that you wouldn't be passionate about our projects and clients.
Actually their projects were interesting, I guess wasn't enthusiastic enough.
