中文
By Koh King Kee
Lead: For decades, Hong Kong has served as a bridge between East and West. Today, its unique position is helping shape Asia's future, linking cultures and driving new economic growth.
In September 1956, while swimming in the Zhongnanhai pool, Chairman Mao Zedong summoned Geng Biao, then Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, to the poolside and told him while fully leveraging the "southern gate" for foreign trade, China must also actively open the "western gate."
Mao was referring to Hong Kong as the southern gate and Pakistan as the western gate.
As a master strategist, he understood that Hong Kong, even under British rule, served as China's vital window to the world. It was a bridge for trade, ideas and mutual understanding. That southern gate has never closed.
For more than a century, Hong Kong has stood at the crossroads of East and West, a meeting point where Chinese tradition blends with international modernity and where people, capital and ideas flow freely.
When ASEAN and Hong Kong signed free trade and investment agreements in 2017, it reaffirmed the city's continuing role as a connector between China and the region. By 2024, ASEAN had become Hong Kong's second-largest trading partner, clear evidence that this role is deepening rather than diminishing.
After China began reform and opening up in 1978, Hong Kong became the entry point for global capital, management expertise and innovation. The city helped transform the Pearl River Delta into one of the world's most vibrant economic regions.
Hong Kong's role has evolved from simply a gateway for goods and finance to a strategic connector linking China's national development with regional growth.
As part of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong connects the global financial system with the innovation and manufacturing strength of Shenzhen and Guangzhou. As a trusted partner of ASEAN, the city also bridges China's vast domestic market with one of the world's most dynamic regions, home to 680 million people and a combined GDP of about $3.6 trillion.
China has been ASEAN's largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years since 2009, and ASEAN has been China's largest trading partner for five consecutive years since 2020. In 2024, bilateral trade in goods reached nearly $982 billion, underscoring their deepening economic interdependence.
The Greater Bay Area has a population exceeding 87 million and a GDP of nearly $2 trillion. Each city makes a distinct contribution to the region's economic growth. Hong Kong stands out as the financial and international business center, Shenzhen leads in innovation and high-tech industries, while Guangzhou is a core base for manufacturing, logistics and trade.
China-ASEAN cooperation goes far beyond traditional trade. The partnership now spans the digital economy, green energy, infrastructure and finance, sectors expected to drive the next wave of regional integration.
The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025 both pursue greater prosperity through enhanced connectivity and inclusiveness. In this context, Hong Kong plays a unique enabling role, providing the capital, expertise and institutional confidence that make regional cooperation possible.
Between 2020 and 2022, about 70%-75% of foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland was recorded as coming from Hong Kong. Meanwhile, an increasing number of Chinese enterprises, especially fintech and service-oriented firms, have been using Hong Kong as a base for investment into ASEAN, leveraging the city's legal, financial and cross-border facilitation services.
Hong Kong is the world's largest offshore yuan center, processing about 75% of global yuan transactions. This underscores Hong Kong's crucial role as ASEAN economies increasingly use the renminbi for trade and settlement.
The city is leading Asia's shift toward green and sustainable finance, helping to fund infrastructure and climate projects throughout Belt and Road partner countries and across ASEAN.
Central to this is Hong Kong's rule of law. Its bilingual legal system and internationally recognized dispute-resolution framework offer certainty to investors and partners. In today's uncertain world, that kind of confidence is more than a legal asset; it is a strategic advantage.
Hong Kong enables ASEAN entrepreneurs to access Chinese capital, technology and consumers, while Chinese enterprises can use Hong Kong as a springboard to expand into ASEAN markets.
In that sense, Hong Kong is not only connecting economies; it is helping to weave together the fabric of Asia's growth, defined by partnership, adaptability and shared progress.
Hong Kong's contribution extends well beyond commerce. It is also a cultural bridge and a meeting place of minds.
Each year, thousands of students from ASEAN enroll in Hong Kong's universities. Artists, scholars and entrepreneurs gather for exhibitions, exchanges and forums that build understanding and trust in ways no trade agreement or investment treaty can match.
Hong Kong's open, bilingual and outward-looking character enables it to connect not only markets but also people.
Of course, Hong Kong's journey has not been without challenges. The city has weathered crises, economic turbulence and global uncertainty. Time and again, it has demonstrated resilience. Hong Kong adapts, reinvents itself and emerges stronger, all while upholding the rule of law, the free flow of capital and the creativity of its people. That resilience keeps Hong Kong relevant and makes it a trusted partner for ASEAN and beyond.
Looking ahead, Hong Kong's role as a strategic connector will deepen in three key ways.
First, Hong Kong will continue to lead in green finance, fintech and yuan internationalization, supporting inclusive and sustainable growth across Asia.
Second, through the Greater Bay Area and the Belt and Road Initiative, Hong Kong will link China's domestic transformation with ASEAN's economic dynamism, creating new engines of shared development.
Third, through education, tourism and cultural collaboration, Hong Kong will continue to strengthen the human bonds that sustain long-term trust.
Together, these connections will help shape a more integrated and resilient Asia, one that values cooperation and shared progress over zero-sum rivalry.
Today, we live in an age of uncertainty, with fragmentation and mistrust threatening to divide the global economy. U.S. technology restrictions on China raise the risk of a bifurcated technology world. Yet amid these challenges, Hong Kong stands as a symbol of connection, a city that links systems, economies and cultures.
Hong Kong has grown from a historic gateway into a strategic connector. It is now an indispensable bridge within the structure of regional and global cooperation.
Nearly seven decades after Chairman Mao spoke of the "southern gate," that gate remains open and wider than ever.
This article was adapted from a speech by Koh King Kee, president of the Centre for New Inclusive Asia, at the Bauhinia Culture Forum in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Oct. 23, 2025.
