HKETO - Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) - Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Canada)

Unrivalled Location

Hong Kong has a prime location at the geographical and economic centre of Asia. Business executives in Hong Kong have fast and easy access to all the major markets in the Asia Pacific region. This central position is one of the key reasons for the city's popularity as a location for regional operations.

Hong Kong International Airport is repeatedly voted as one of if not the best airport in the world. It operates on a 24-hour basis. Daily non-stop flights are available to major cities in the Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, the Middle East and South Africa. Taking a flight from the Hong Kong International Airport, one can reach most countries in Asia within five hours.

Located on the southeast coast of Mainland China, Hong Kong has the vast hinterland which, with 1.3 billion people, is the largest single market in the world. Corporate executives can travel back and forth to Beijing, Shanghai and other major Chinese cities in a single day while making their home in Hong Kong.

For companies with manufacturing facilities in the Pearl River Delta area, their executives can go there by car within one to three hours.

Taking a flight from the Hong Kong International Airport, one can reach most countries in Asia within five hours.

Hong Kong is blessed with an invaluable natural resource: its geographical location. Flanking the mouth of the Pearl River Delta (PRD), Hong Kong is perfectly situated for trade with Mainland China; the whole country is our natural hinterland.

For more than a century and a half, Hong Kong has served as the gateway to Mainland China. There is nowhere better than Hong Kong to obtain the expertise, information and facilities needed to tap into the immense Mainland Chinese market.

China's entry to the World Trade Organisation and development of increasingly competitive industries has set the stage for even greater economic expansion.

Hong Kong's Geography

The booming manufacturing region of southern Guangdong province is only an hour or two away by car, train or high-speed ferry. Many Hong Kong people commute daily across the boundary.
Scores of flights depart daily to major Chinese cities from Hong Kong's international airport. The air journey to Shanghai takes less than two hours. Beijing is about three hours' flying time from Hong Kong.

Hong Kong's Experience

Hong Kong is the largest foreign investor in Mainland China, accounting for about 44% of the national total with a cumulative value of US$233 billion in June 2004.
About twelve million Chinese workers are now working for Hong Kong companies in Guangdong province.
Around 95% of Hong Kong's re-exports originate from, or are destined for, Mainland China.

Hong Kong's Networking Advantage

More than 100 mainland companies are listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.
At least 1,800 Mainland-backed enterprises are registered in Hong Kong.
There are 26 Chinese banks and seven representative offices operating in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Tax Breaks

Special arrangements with the mainland allow Hong Kong-based investors to avoid costly double taxation on a wide variety of major areas including shipping, aviation, land transport and personal taxation.
In 2006, Hong Kong and the Mainland signed a new comprehensive double taxation arrangement that replaces the previous 1998 arrangement. The new arrangement is broader in scope and strengthens Hong Kong's attractiveness as the gateway to the Mainland of China.

Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (Canada)
174 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5R 2M7
Tel: (416) 924-5544 Fax: (416) 924-3599 or Email

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