Hong Kong's government has denied reports of state-owned enterprises from mainland China planning to increase investment and take control of major commercial assets in the city, the South China Morning Post has reported.
At a meeting in Shenzhen, the metropolis linking Hong Kong to the mainland, high-level representatives from around one hundred of China’s biggest state-run companies were urged to take a more active role in the restive city, as Beijing continues to try to calm months of unrest there, three executives told Reuters on September 13.
The meeting, organised by the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), the powerful central body that oversees China’s massive state sector, reportedly told the representatives to search for deals in Hong Kong.
SASAC chairman Hao Peng had appeared in Hong Kong with a group of Chinese company executives two days earlier at a forum on the Belt and Road Initiative. He had also met Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Hong Kong's chief executive.
Lam’s office denied that her meeting with Hao was about the expansion plans of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Hong Kong, saying that it was Lam’s responsibility to meet any visiting corporate representatives, according to the South China Morning Post.
“This was not talked about at all,” said Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po. “We met at the Belt and Road forum and talked about how Hong Kong could help SOEs go abroad in terms of infrastructure investment by offering services such as fundraising, insurance, and risk management.”
The reports come as companies such as Cathay Pacific (CX, Hong Kong International) come under increasing pressure from mainland authorities to accept Beijing’s authority on the anti-government protests in the city. In August, Cathay's CEO Rupert Hogg and COO Paul Loo resigned amid pressure from mainland China to crack down on staff allegedly involved in the demonstrations.
