Hong Kong entered a new planning cycle on 16 September 2026, when the Government announced the First Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2026–2030) and, on the same day, delivered the 2026 Policy Address. Conceived to operate in tandem, the two documents complement one another, with the Five-Year Plan setting out Hong Kong’s medium-term development agenda and the Policy Address outlining the initiatives through which those priorities will begin to be implemented.
Global businesses are operating in a more fragmented environment characterised by trade-policy uncertainty, shifting supply chains, geopolitical tensions, new international tax rules and increasing regulatory complexity. At the same time, Hong Kong is introducing new headquarters, treasury, supply-chain and investment incentives, strengthening its international dispute-resolution infrastructure and deepening its role as a platform for Mainland enterprises expanding overseas.
The policy direction is not starting from a blank sheet. In 2025, 11,070 companies with parent companies outside Hong Kong maintained operations in the city, including 1,510 regional headquarters and 2,500 regional offices. The question raised by the latest policy initiatives is therefore not whether Hong Kong can serve as a regional hub, but whether a wider range of corporate functions – particularly treasury, supply-chain management, technology commercialisation and international expansion – may increasingly be organised through Hong Kong.
Hong Kong’s First Five-Year Plan and the 2026 Policy Address in Brief
Hong Kong’s first Five-Year Plan was formulated at the beginning of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan period and establishes a medium-term framework through which the HKSAR Government intends to align more closely with national development while strengthening Hong Kong’s international functions. Among its economic objectives, the Plan seeks to consolidate Hong Kong’s position as an international financial, maritime and trade centre and international aviation hub, while developing the city further as an international innovation and technology centre and a hub for high-calibre talent.
Within that broad agenda, several priorities have direct implications for international business:
- Hong Kong intends to strengthen its international financial capabilities, including offshore renminbi business, asset and wealth management, risk management and capital markets, while the Government places greater emphasis on the relationship between finance and the real economy, particularly where financing, treasury and risk-management capabilities can support international business activities.
- International trade remains another major priority, although the policy direction reaches beyond the physical movement of goods. The Five-Year Plan calls for Hong Kong to strengthen its role as a platform for offshore trade and encourages manufacturing, technology and logistics enterprises to conduct activities such as international order-taking, foreign exchange, trade finance and supply-chain management through Hong Kong, and it further calls for the development of a high value-added supply-chain services centre and for more regional and international headquarters and treasury centres to be established in the city.
- Technology and the Greater Bay Area form another part of the strategy. Hong Kong intends to combine its research capabilities, capital markets, international networks and professional infrastructure with the manufacturing, engineering and industrial capabilities available elsewhere in the Greater Bay Area, while the Northern Metropolis is expected to provide additional space for innovation, advanced industries and cross-boundary collaboration.
- The Five-Year Plan states that Hong Kong will deepen international exchanges, participate more actively in international organisations and seek to attract more international organisations and multilateral institutions to establish offices or regional headquarters in the city. The 2026 Policy Address translates that objective into concrete initiatives, among them the planned establishment of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization’s first Asia-Pacific centre of excellence on global advanced manufacturing in Hong Kong, support for the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law to establish a presence in the city, and measures to draw more Asian and international sports associations to the city.
Read together, these priorities send a consistent signal: Hong Kong wants international businesses and organisations to place specific functions in the city, namely regional management, treasury and financing, trade and supply-chain coordination, technology commercialisation and institutional activities, and it is backing that ambition with incentives, infrastructure and institutional support. It is in this light that our team has developed the seven operating models below, each of which shows how a business or organisation could organise such functions in and around Hong Kong.
Model 1 – Regional Headquarters in Hong Kong, Operations in Mainland China
For an international business operating in Mainland China and other Asian markets, one possible structure places regional management functions in Hong Kong while retaining market-specific operating activities within local subsidiaries.
Under this structure, the Hong Kong headquarters would be responsible for regional strategy, financial management, governance, senior leadership, key commercial relationships, and other management functions, while the Mainland China subsidiary would continue to employ local personnel and undertake activities that must be carried out within China, including domestic sales, procurement, engineering support, manufacturing, and service delivery.
This model aligns closely with Hong Kong’s policy objective of strengthening its position as a regional headquarters hub. According to the First Five-Year Plan, Hong Kong will accelerate efforts to attract industry leaders and other enterprises to establish regional or international headquarters and treasury centres in the city. The goal is to expand Hong Kong’s headquarters-based economy and reinforce its role as a gateway for businesses seeking access to the Greater China and Asia-Pacific markets, an ambition that the 2026 Policy Address supports through several proposed measures:
- First, Mainland financial institutions with stronger capital positions and higher compliance and internal-control standards will be encouraged to establish international headquarters in Hong Kong, where they can consolidate businesses and management functions conducted outside Mainland China. In addition, major Chinese securities firms are supported in increasing the capital of their Hong Kong subsidiaries so that these can serve as booking centres for risk management and capital-market operations.
- Second, preferential policy packages (for example, a 5% or half-rate tax concession) will be available for selected enterprises in key sectors such as finance, advanced manufacturing, R&D in I&T, headquarters activities and logistics and supply chain management.
- Third, Hong Kong is also drawing on its status as a headquarters hub to enter the sports sector and raise its international standing, through a three-year pilot initiative launched in April 2026 that combines financial incentives, sports venue upgrades and stronger local sports governance to make the city more attractive to Asian and international sports associations. The programme has since enabled four Asian or international sports associations to successfully establish their headquarters or regional headquarters in Hong Kong.
Illustrative market example
Five Guys provides a practical example. After entering Hong Kong in 2018, the US restaurant group used the city as its Asia-Pacific regional headquarters and as a base from which to support expansion in other regional markets.
What recent developments strengthen Hong Kong’s case?
The 2026 Policy Address proposes a 5% or half-rate preferential tax rate for selected enterprises in key sectors, including headquarters activities. It also encourages qualifying Mainland financial institutions to place international headquarters and selected risk-management and capital-market booking functions in Hong Kong.
Model 2 – Hong Kong as a Sourcing and Supply-Chain Centre
Hong Kong’s proposed development as a high value-added supply-chain services centre deserves particular attention from companies that source extensively from Mainland China and other parts of Asia.
Many international businesses begin their sourcing activities relatively informally: an overseas headquarters contracts directly with factories, while employees or agents in China handle supplier communication, quality control and logistics. As procurement volumes increase, establishing a Hong Kong sourcing or supply-chain centre can equip the group to conduct international trading, manage foreign exchange, access trade finance and control commercial risk under an international framework, while a Mainland entity or local team performs supplier identification, factory liaison, inspections, technical support, product development and other activities that require a physical presence near suppliers.
This proposition is reflected in the Five-Year Plan, which calls for Hong Kong to develop into an integral hub serving global industry and supply chains, while the 2026 Policy Address encourages enterprises to establish sourcing centres and headquarters in Hong Kong to manage supply-chain and sourcing activities.
Complementing this policy signal, the Government is also developing the infrastructure around digital trade, including expanded use of the Trade Single Window, greater connectivity with Mainland and ASEAN trade systems and legislation intended to support digital business-to-business trade documents.
Illustrative market example
GETT Asia, part of Germany’s GETT Group, established its regional headquarters in Hong Kong in 2014. Its Hong Kong operation supports regional sourcing and supply-chain management, while a Shenzhen subsidiary provides manufacturing capacity and proximity to suppliers in the Greater Bay Area.
What recent developments strengthen Hong Kong’s case?
The 2026 Policy Address extends the proposed 5% or half-rate preferential tax treatment to selected logistics and supply-chain management enterprises. It also proposes legislation to facilitate digital business-to-business trade documents and stronger connectivity between Hong Kong’s Trade Single Window and Mainland and ASEAN trade systems.
Model 3 – Hong Kong as a Corporate Treasury Centre
For a multinational group with operations across several Asian jurisdictions, a corporate treasury centre can consolidate functions such as group liquidity management, intercompany financing, foreign-exchange management, financial risk management and other treasury activities, and the group may accordingly weigh whether selected treasury activities should be centralised in Hong Kong rather than managed separately in each jurisdiction.
Hong Kong has maintained a concessionary tax regime for qualifying corporate treasury centre (CTC) activities since 2016 as part of its efforts to attract multinational groups to establish regional treasury hubs in the city. Under the regime, qualifying corporate treasury activities may benefit from a reduced profits tax rate, subject to meeting the relevant conditions.
According to the 2026 Policy Address, the Government has completed its review of the regime and consulted on proposed enhancements designed to strengthen Hong Kong’s position as a leading international treasury hub. The proposals would provide pre-approved CTCs and their associated companies with additional tax benefits and increased operational flexibility, reflecting growing competition from other regional treasury locations, and legislative amendments are expected to be introduced in the first half of 2027.
This model will not be suitable for every business, as an effective treasury centre requires sufficient scale, activity, governance, and operational substance; nevertheless, it highlights an important aspect of Hong Kong’s evolving value proposition, namely that a group need not manufacture products or generate sales in Hong Kong for the city to play a commercially and economically substantive role within its operations. Provided that genuine regional functions, such as treasury, financing, risk management, or other strategic activities, are performed in Hong Kong, the city can constitute a meaningful part of the group’s value chain.
Illustrative market example
KN Group has described using a Hong Kong global corporate treasury centre to centralise fund management and allocation as its international operations expanded. The example illustrates the operational rationale for consolidating liquidity and treasury oversight rather than treating the tax concession as the sole driver.
What recent developments strengthen Hong Kong’s case?
The Government has completed a review and consultation on enhancements to the corporate treasury centre regime. Proposed changes would give pre-approved centres and associated companies additional tax benefits and operational flexibility, with an amendment bill expected in the first half of 2027.
Model 4 – Using Hong Kong as the International Operating Layer of a Mainland Business
For many years, Hong Kong’s role in cross-border structuring has been discussed primarily from the perspective of overseas investment entering Mainland China, although the expansion of Chinese companies abroad has since opened a second and increasingly important channel for investment flows.
Under this model, a Mainland group uses Hong Kong as an international platform from which it coordinates selected overseas activities. Depending on the group’s business, those activities might include holding overseas investments, raising capital, managing international contracts, coordinating regional subsidiaries, conducting treasury activities, engaging overseas professional advisers, managing international compliance or supporting business development outside Mainland China.
Hong Kong’s Five-Year Plan identifies the city as a platform for Mainland enterprises going global, while the 2026 Policy Address reports that the GoGlobal Task Force has already assisted more than 340 Mainland enterprises with matters that include capital raising, overseas standards, certifications and compliance, and around 30% of the enterprises assisted position Hong Kong as their regional or international headquarters or corporate treasury centre.
The Government intends to deepen this role by expanding connections between Mainland companies and Hong Kong professional service providers and by strengthening support for enterprises entering overseas markets. The Five-Year Plan similarly calls for Hong Kong to provide one-stop, high-value-added corporate services to Mainland companies going global and to support their participation in international industrial, supply and value chains.
Illustrative market examples
Recent examples include Jianlibao, which uses Hong Kong as a regional headquarters to support overseas expansion, and Gelray, which established a Hong Kong regional headquarters in 2026 to coordinate its expansion into Southeast Asia.
What recent developments strengthen Hong Kong’s case?
The GoGlobal Task Force has assisted more than 340 Mainland enterprises with matters including capital raising, overseas standards, certification and compliance. According to the 2026 Policy Address, about 30% of the enterprises assisted position Hong Kong as their regional or international headquarters or corporate treasury centre.
Model 5 – Hong Kong as the Trading Principal with Mainland Operating Support
A Hong Kong trading company has long been a familiar structure adopted by international groups sourcing products from China or serving customers across global markets. Where the underlying commercial arrangements support such a framework, the Hong Kong entity may act as the group’s international trading or commercial principal by assuming responsibility for customer and supplier contracting, commercial negotiations, international sales, purchasing decisions, inventory management, and other key cross-border business functions. At the same time, a Mainland China subsidiary may undertake clearly delineated local activities, including supplier management, product development, technical support, quality control and administration, thereby separating strategic commercial ownership from day-to-day operational execution.
This model assumes renewed significance in light of Hong Kong’s latest policy direction, as both the First Five-Year Plan and the 2026 Policy Address position the city not merely as a financial centre but as a comprehensive platform for international trade, supply chain management, and cross-border business coordination. By encouraging enterprises to conduct order-taking, foreign exchange, trade finance and supply chain management through Hong Kong, and by signalling a willingness to offer preferential policy packages to Mainland and overseas enterprises alike, policymakers are reinforcing Hong Kong’s role as the preferred location from which international trading can be managed and controlled.
The policy rationale is particularly relevant for businesses that create value through the coordination of global procurement, customer relationships, financing arrangements, and supply chain networks, because these are the activities in which Hong Kong’s institutional and commercial advantages count most. Supported by its common law system, deep capital markets, international banking network, professional services ecosystem, and extensive connectivity with global markets, Hong Kong is well placed to host the decision-making, contracting, financing, and risk-management functions that frequently underpin modern trading operations.
These advantages are reinforced by initiatives to strengthen Hong Kong’s role within international supply chains, including measures relating to digital trade, port and logistics connectivity, customs facilitation, and cross-border e-commerce, all intended to reduce friction in the movement of goods, capital and information. As these initiatives continue to mature, they may enable businesses to centralise an increasingly broad range of commercial and trading activities in Hong Kong while continuing to rely on Mainland China for manufacturing, sourcing support, product development, and other activities that benefit from proximity to suppliers and factories.
Beyond supply-chain infrastructure, Hong Kong is also seeking to expand the international reach of businesses operating through the city by deepening economic and trade relationships with established markets across Europe, North America, ASEAN, and the Middle East, while also pursuing opportunities in emerging markets such as Central Asia and Africa. Together, these efforts position Hong Kong as a gateway through which businesses can coordinate and grow international trading activities across multiple regions from a single commercial platform.
Illustrative market example
Caddie Hotel Asia uses its Hong Kong base to manage regional sales, sourcing, manufacturing oversight, product development, quality control and logistics across the Greater Bay Area, with China-made products managed through Hong Kong for regional and international markets.
What recent developments strengthen Hong Kong’s case?
Policy measures now place greater emphasis on offshore trade functions carried out in Hong Kong, including international order-taking, foreign exchange, trade finance and supply-chain management. Digital trade legislation and customs-system connectivity are intended to reduce friction in the movement of goods, capital and commercial information.
Model 6 – Hong Kong as a Commercialisation Platform with Greater Bay Area Technology Operations
Technology businesses present a distinctive structuring challenge because the activities that drive value creation across the innovation lifecycle, including research, engineering, financing, intellectual property development, manufacturing, and market expansion, frequently develop across multiple locations and organisational platforms. Consequently, many technology groups operating within the Greater Bay Area seek to build integrated structures that allow each component of the value chain to be undertaken where the necessary talent, infrastructure, capital, and market access are most readily available.
Within such a model, a Hong Kong entity may assume responsibility for functions that benefit from international connectivity and access to global financial and professional services markets, including investor relations, fundraising, intellectual property ownership and commercialisation, licensing arrangements, strategic partnerships, overseas contracting, regional management, and international business development. Engineering, research and development, prototyping, pilot production, supply chain management, manufacturing, and Mainland-facing business activities may meanwhile be undertaken in Shenzhen or other Greater Bay Area cities whose industrial ecosystems provide access to specialised talent, production capabilities, and commercial networks.
This allocation of activities mirrors the policy direction reflected in both the First Five-Year Plan and the 2026 Policy Address, which envisage Hong Kong as an international innovation and technology centre embedded within the Greater Bay Area innovation ecosystem and connected to global markets. Alongside continued investment in research and technology development, considerable emphasis is placed on the transformation and industrialisation of research outcomes, supported by the development of the Northern Metropolis and the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone as key platforms for technology collaboration, commercialisation, pilot production and new industrialisation. These initiatives are intended to strengthen the links between research, capital, industry and international markets, enabling technologies developed across the Greater Bay Area to progress more efficiently from innovation to commercial deployment.
The Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone and the wider Northern Metropolis provide the physical and institutional framework through which this model can develop. Together, they are intended to strengthen collaboration between research institutions, technology enterprises, investors and industrial operators while facilitating the movement of talent, capital, data and technology across the boundary. As technologies progress from research and development to pilot production and commercial deployment, different stages of the value chain may be undertaken across Hong Kong and other Greater Bay Area cities, with Hong Kong increasingly focused on financing, intellectual property management, commercialisation and international market access.
For technology businesses, the resulting planning exercise extends beyond the location of research teams or production facilities and increasingly centres on how different stages of the innovation lifecycle are organised across the region. Where research, engineering and industrial activities are undertaken within the Greater Bay Area and Hong Kong performs functions such as capital raising, intellectual property management, licensing, strategic partnerships and international commercialisation, the two locations can operate as complementary components of a single innovation ecosystem rather than separate investment destinations.
Illustrative market examples
Judcare Medical established its regional headquarters at Hong Kong Science Park in 2025 to coordinate regional R&D and international expansion. LAiPIC, an AI company serving users in more than 180 countries and regions, has also established a Hong Kong regional headquarters responsible for international business development, partnerships, cross-border coordination, and financial and legal compliance.
What recent developments strengthen Hong Kong’s case?
The Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone opened at the end of 2025, while the 2026 policy programme continues to expand the Northern Metropolis innovation platform and support the commercialisation and internationalisation of R&D outcomes.
Model 7 – Hong Kong as an Asia-Pacific Base for International and Multilateral Organisations
The First Five-Year Plan and the 2026 Policy Address suggest that Hong Kong’s headquarters economy is evolving beyond commercial enterprises to encompass international organisations, multilateral institutions, professional associations, research bodies, foundations and sports federations. Alongside attracting investment and business activity, Hong Kong is seeking to strengthen its role as a platform for international co-operation, knowledge exchange and regional institutional engagement.
Several recent initiatives illustrate this direction: UNIDO has selected Hong Kong as the location of its first Asia-Pacific centre of excellence on global advanced manufacturing; the Government is deepening cooperation with the International Chamber of Commerce; preparations are underway for the UNODC GlobE Network Asia-Pacific Regional Bureau; and efforts continue to attract Asian and international sports associations to establish regional headquarters in the city.
For organisations operating across Asia-Pacific, Hong Kong can provide a base from which regional programmes, memberships, funding activities, conferences, research initiatives, publications and stakeholder relationships are coordinated. As with many of the business models discussed above, the functions concentrated in Hong Kong may be less concerned with local programme delivery than with regional governance, administration, finance, institutional relationships and strategic coordination. In that sense, the policy direction reflects a broader ambition to expand Hong Kong’s role as a location through which organisations engage with Asia and, increasingly, with Mainland China.
Illustrative market example
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has announced plans to establish an office in Hong Kong. The Government has said it will support the office and facilitate the Bank’s use of Hong Kong’s capital markets for project financing, bond issuance, investment and financial management.
What recent developments strengthen Hong Kong’s case?
The policy agenda also includes UNIDO’s first Asia-Pacific centre of excellence on global advanced manufacturing, the planned UNODC GlobE Network Asia-Pacific Regional Bureau, and support for the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law to establish its first presence outside Rome in Hong Kong.
Closing Remarks
The First Five-Year Plan and the 2026 Policy Address provide clear indications of how Hong Kong intends to position itself within both China’s broader development strategy and the global economy.
Against that backdrop, the seven operating models discussed above illustrate some of the ways in which these policy directions could translate into practical business and operating structures. The extent to which any of these models gain traction will ultimately depend on the nature, scale, objectives, and strategic priorities of individual businesses and organisations.
While not every model will be suitable for every enterprise, they collectively demonstrate Hong Kong’s evolving role as a platform for regional headquarters functions, treasury and financing activities, supply chain management, innovation commercialisation, intellectual property management, and international expansion.
CW looks forward to discussing the implications of these developments with interested enterprises and organisations, and exploring how emerging policy initiatives, incentives, and Greater Bay Area opportunities may support their future growth, investment, and operating strategies in Hong Kong and the wider region.