Hong Kong as a Global Metropolis (review)

Aside from what it offers as a longitudinal review of the development of Hong Kong's economy, this volume is a welcome addition to the literature on Chinese social networks as they relate to the growth of the economies of China and Southeast Asia.

Using "intermediaries of capital"—that is, both Chinese and foreign middlemen in trade and finance—the author describes how Hong Kong emerged as a hub of the China trade between 1841 and 1949 and how it was transformed into an industrial metropolis after 1950. Hong Kong is compared with other rival centers of economic activity such as Shanghai, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur, and this comparative approach offers an interesting angle for understanding Hong Kong's past and present economic development against the larger background of Chinese social networks in the Asia Pacific region. The concept of "intermediaries of capital" nevertheless needs to be further defined and quantified. The book offers plenty of circumstantial evidence to supports its explanation for the nature and rapidity of growth and change in the Hong Kong economy, but the concept is not sufficiently clear or convincing.

Moreover, at least in two areas I feel that this study would benefit from additional data and greater caution in its interpretation. First of all, the insignificance and slow growth of the trade between Great Britain and China both before and after 1841 may not be sufficient reason to dismiss the economic incentive for Britain's acquisition of Hong Kong. For example, there is the fact that after the Opium War Britain was able to squeeze out of China an indemnity that was much larger than the value to Britain's economy of British trade with China. Second, the factors contributing to industrial expansion in Hong Kong after 1950 need further scrutiny. (Elsewhere, I have discussed the "industrial transfer" from Shanghai to Hong Kong and demonstrated that this phenomenon has had only scant relation to the activities of Hong Kong's large financial houses and trading firms, in particular those enterprises that have involved non-Chinese capital.)

I agree with the author that "Hong Kong has been the premier meeting-place of the Chinese and foreign social networks of capital in Asia, and these networks continuously elaborate, strengthen and widen." Although there are other factors behind Hong Kong's economic growth, these networks have played a significant role in its development and they will continue to be an important consideration in planning for the future growth of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Overall, this is a good book and I recommend it to people interested in East Asian economies and their business environments.