The financial centres of Shanghai and Hong Kong: Compentition or complementarity?

The contemporary rise of China in the new geo-economy is increasingly pressurising the spatial distribution of financial activity in mainland China and Hong Kong. With the reemergence of Shanghai, many people foresee the future demise of Hong Kong as the most important financial centre for the Chinese mainland. This paper shows that this conviction seems rather premature. From an examination of the regional distribution pattern of the mainland-China-based companies listed on the stock exchanges of Shanghai and Hong Kong it appears that both financial centres have relatively distinct hinterlands. Furthermore, it is shown that the exchanges of Shanghai and Hong Kong differ strongly in terms of sectoral specialisation. These results indicate that both centres reveal a considerable amount of complementarity.

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