Hong Kong is the most popular city for international businesses: survey

Almost 70% of international companies surveyed are represented in Hong Kong.

According to new research by CB Richard Ellis, the world’s largest companies are opting to locate their offices in booming Asian economies, reflecting a shift in global economic power.

Singapore closely follows Hong Kong, and is home to 67.5 per cent of surveyed companies, and then by Tokyo (63.9 per cent). London ranks in fourth place globally with 63.2 per cent of companies surveyed basing some part of their operations in the capital. The top five is completed by Shanghai (61.4 per cent) which is increasingly adopting the role of financial and business capital of China.

CBRE noted that the combined impact of rapid growth in mainland China’s major markets, easy access to other major Asian economies, and Asia’s world-leading emergence from the global recession have enabled Hong Kong to act as a gateway between east and west, with access to a skilled, varied and often low-cost workforce for international businesses.

Nick Axford, Head of Research for Asia Pacific, CBRE, said, “Hong Kong is the key gateway city for accessing China and is the city set to benefit most from the gradual liberalisation of the Chinese financial services markets. The city holds a unique position from which international businesses can operate globally, due to its location, lack of foreign ownership restrictions, tri-lingual mix and international, highly-skilled workforce.”

Business Footprints analysed the office locations of 280 of the world’s largest companies across 232 cities.