Follow Hong Kong Investment Immigration and Hong Kong News: It is understood that the first round of negotiations for the Hong Kong-ASEAN Free Trade Area started in July this year and has been successfully completed, with bilateral related affairs progressing smoothly. The Honorary President of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, Cai Guanshen, recently stated that Hong Kong is expected to officially join ASEAN next year, which may further ignite the currently booming Hong Kong investment immigration market.
Hong Kong's status as an international financial center will be further solidified after joining ASEAN.
Currently, Hong Kong is the third largest international financial center in the world, following London and New York, and its role is becoming increasingly significant against the backdrop of the imminent launch of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and the accelerating process of Renminbi internationalization. In recent years, cooperation between China and ASEAN in trade, investment, and other areas has been continuously strengthened. The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, as the third largest free trade area in the world, is gaining increasing influence internationally.
From a practical perspective, Hong Kong's accession to the ASEAN market will reduce bilateral tariffs, benefiting economic cooperation between the two sides. In the long run, Hong Kong's entry into the ASEAN market will strive to gain a voice on this increasingly robust international stage, allowing Hong Kong to play its role in various professional services such as accounting, law, and surveying, while seeking liberalization in trade and finance, and ensuring clarity in tax arrangements and origin sources.
Therefore, if Hong Kong joins ASEAN, the "10+1" market will be upgraded to a new height. Hong Kong's future accession to free trade areas such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will also have more favorable conditions, further solidifying its status as an international financial center and a global free economy.
The popularity of Hong Kong investment immigration is soaring.
Hong Kong has always been a favored choice for investment immigrants, and in recent years, it has become even more popular, with continuous news of celebrities and wealthy individuals immigrating to Hong Kong. Previously, a survey conducted by Barclays Bank in the UK regarding the immigration destinations of Chinese wealthy individuals showed that nearly half of China's wealthy are interested in investing and immigrating overseas, with Hong Kong being their top choice.
Official data from Hong Kong shows that since the implementation of the "Capital Investment Entrant Scheme," the cumulative number of applications reached 39,024 by June this year, nearly doubling the number of cases in 2013, which exceeded 9,300. This clearly indicates the hot trend of investment immigration in Hong Kong.
The advantages of Hong Kong investment immigration are very obvious: it is an international financial center, a global free economy, has a clean government, a rule of law society, high social welfare, top international education, a convenient immigration environment, unlimited childbirth, and a low tax haven, among others. Surveys show that most ultra-high-net-worth individuals in China may still want to develop in China, and considering business and life, they need to stay close to China, making Hong Kong their better choice.
In summary, after Hong Kong officially joins ASEAN, its economic status will reach a new level, adding to its appeal for investment immigrants looking to preserve their assets and expand overseas.
About ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)
Full name: Association of Southeast Asian Nations, established on August 8, 1967, covering an area of approximately 4.44 million square kilometers, with a population of 591 million. The current members are 10: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia.
About the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area
The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (abbreviated as CAFTA) is a free trade area established between China and the ten ASEAN countries, officially completed on January 1, 2010. It covers a population of 1.9 billion, with a GDP of 6 trillion USD and a trade volume of 4.5 trillion USD. It is the first free trade area negotiated by China with foreign countries and is also the largest free trade area among developing countries. Currently, China and ASEAN are striving to create an upgraded version of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, aiming for bilateral trade volume to reach 500 billion USD by 2015 and 1 trillion USD by 2020, with bilateral investment of 150 billion USD over the next eight years, forming a new cooperation pattern. The first round of negotiations was completed at the end of September this year.
