Finance and economics

China’s economic growth slowed to 7.9% in the second quarter year-on-year from a record growth the previous quarter, showing increasingly steady trends in the second-half year, the National Bureau of Statistics of China said on Thursday. The gross domestic product (GDP) figure came in below the median forecast of 8.1%, polled by Reuters, and was lower than the 18.3% year-on-year increase in the first three months of 2021, which was boosted by the low base due to the pandemic. “The country’s economy continues to recover steadily with production and demand picking up, employment and prices remaining stable,” said Liu Aihua, Director of the National Economic Comprehensive Statistics Department of the bureau, at today’s news conference. She said market expectations were positive and major macro indicators were within the reasonable range. Industrial production increased 8.3% year-on-year in June, and 15.9% in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year.  Retail sales rose 12.1% in June from a year earlier and grew by 23% in the January-June period. Fixed-asset investment also grew 12.6% year-on-year in the first half of the year, and the jobless rate decreased 0.5% year-on-year to 5% this June, but Ms Liu predicted at the conference that the rate may increase as an estimated of 9.09 million university graduates would flood into the job market this year. “The pandemic is not yet stable globally, and the recovery of the domestic economy is not yet even,” said Ms Liu at the conference, adding that China's economy would sustain a steady recovery in the second half of the year despite facing such difficulties. She estimated that increasing domestic demands, enhancing market confidence, more policies to help small and medium-sized enterprises, and global economic recovery would further support the economic recovery. The Chinese government announced several measures …

Hong Kong’s initial public offering (IPO) market is expected to raise more than HK$ 400 billion this year and rank third in the global league, with more new economy companies coming to list from Mainland China, according to the National Public Offering Group of Deloitte China. In the first half of this year, 46 IPOs raised a total of about HKD 209.7 billion in Hong Kong, which decreased 22% in the number of new listings but increased 138% in the IPO proceeds compared to that in the same period last year. In general, Hong Kong IPO market performed well in the first half of 2021,” said Edward Au, Deloitte South China Region managing partner. “We are confident that HKEX will get the third place of top global new listing markets in the coming half year and continue its strong performance,” he added. In terms of total proceeds raised, Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange took the lead in the first half year, followed by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Hong Kong ranked the second largest IPO market in the world in 2020, after Nasdaq, and raised about HK$ 398 billion.  Among the top ten IPOs in the world in the first half of 2021, four were listed in Hong Kong and all of them were innovative and technologies companies, it said. Healthcare and medical industries and property industries continued to dominate Hong Kong’s new listing market. On the first day of trading, the three best performers were from the new economy sector, with two in the health industry and one in TMT, while the three worst performers were from the property sector. “Investors have shown more acceptance for new economy companies, but at the same time, they are less optimistic about traditional and capital-intensive …

Former Hong Kong chief executive, Leung Chun-ying has urged students in Hong Kong to be involved in the planning of the Greater Bay area. Speaking at the 2021 China Conference: Hong Kong, Mr. Leung said the city has already wasted years of opportunities because of endless filibustering in Legco, social unrest and the pandemic,    “The window of opportunities for Hong Kong will not be open forever,” Mr. Leung said.    The Conference focuses on economic development in the GBA and Hong Kong and has drawn participants from both sides.   “The good opportunity is about short distances between cities and a comparatively large market,” said Davon Hui Jun-git, founder of a Hong Kong technology startup who developed business both in Hong Kong and Dongguan. He said at the conference that his company attracted many new customers after winning the 2020 Qianhai Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao-Taiwan Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship competition. “We don't even have enough products to actually meet the huge customer demand,” he added.   Hendrick Sin, who founded CMGE, China’s biggest publisher of mobile games, advised new startups in Hong Kong to understand policies in the GBA in order to maximise the support they need. “I think there are lots of office spaces, apartments, tax subsidies to support you,”   However, some Hong Kong entrepreneurs find it difficult to do business in the mainland because of differences in market size, customers’ behaviors and other aspects between Hong Kong and the mainland.   Milktea Wong, a local university student said in a phone interview that she is willing to work in the mainland because there are more job opportunities than in Hong Kong.   But she is concerned about welfare issues in the mainland, such as healthcare insurance. She hoped the government can help to ensure the welfare of Hongkongers …