Sing Tao forum starts with tribute to Tai Po fire victims, focuses on China outlook

Sing Tao News Corporation (1105), the parent company of The Standard, on Tuesday opened its annual forum on China’s macroeconomic outlook and Greater Bay Area integration with a minute of silence for victims of a recent fatal fire in Tai Po, including firefighters who died on duty.

Vice-chairwoman Kwok Hiu-ting urged the community to support those affected, saying the tragedy had shaken the city.

The New Vision Economic Summit 2025, the third held by Sing Tao, focused on innovation and China’s push to expand overseas as Beijing prepares its next “15th Five-Year Plan”.

Acting Government Economist Cecilia Lam Kwok-ying said Hong Kong remained attractive to global investors despite an uncertain external environment, citing continued inflows over the past year.

She said the city was shifting from a connector between mainland China and the world to a platform linking capital and businesses to new markets.

Jianguang Shen, chief economist at e-commerce giant JD.com (9618), said Hong Kong still had significant growth potential in the Greater Bay Area despite gross domestic product pressures from Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

He said JD.com was increasing investment in the city. Shen added that mainland consumption accounted for about 60 percent of economic growth and called for an extension and expansion of last year’s trade-in subsidies, suggesting consumption vouchers could help the services sector.

Zhou Yisheng, co-founder of Gohigh Capital, a leading real estate private equity fund in China said Hong Kong’s property market was showing a mild recovery, with rents returning to 2019 levels.

He said mainland markets remained under pressure from falling sales and prices, and that the outlook for Shenzhen would depend partly on Hong Kong’s trajectory.

Deeper financial integration and policy innovation, he said, would be needed to stabilise both markets.