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The South China Morning Post looks into 22 companies setting up or growing their operations in the city, anticipating HK$73 billion in investment and 25,000 new jobs.

Twenty-two key businesses have entered into pacts with the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES) to establish or grow their activities in Hong Kong.

The most recent group represents the sixth batch under the government’s main investment attraction program since it began in 2022, increasing the total number of strategic partners to over 120.

The South China Morning Post examines the newest companies and their expected economic effects.

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1. Which companies are involved?

Pfizer, a top international research-driven pharmaceutical and biotechnology firm, is one of the most prominent entities in the latest group.

Amgen, a leading global independent biotech company, was established in 1980 and is based in California.

Other businesses operating within the life and health technology industry are German company Boehringer Ingelheim, Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals from mainland China, and HAYA Therapeutics.

In the transportation industry, the government has obtained promises from the Chinese ride-sharing company DiDi and the Shanghai-based electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) manufacturer AutoFlight.

Several cloud computing companies have set up operations in the city, including LightSpeed Studios, the international development division of Tencent Games, which utilizes Tencent Cloud’s technology platform for its development, operational processes, and worldwide expansion.

2. What are the most recently established companies with the highest market values?

Among the 22 publicly traded companies, Pfizer and Amgen have some of the highest valuations. Pfizer has a market value of approximately US$156.7 billion, whereas Amgen is valued at around US$191.5 billion, as reported by Yahoo Finance.

A fabless semiconductor company based in Beijing, Hygon Information Technology, has a market value of 604 billion yuan (US$88.5 billion), whereas Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals, listed in Hong Kong, is worth HK$429.9 billion (US$54.9 billion).

Other publicly traded companies are the artificial intelligence firm MiniMax, which has a market value of HK$285.5 billion; Tianqi Lithium Corporation, assessed at HK$239.5 billion; and the French multinational software company Dassault Systèmes, with a market capitalization of US$30 billion.

3. What is the overall funding and anticipated economic effect?

During the signing ceremony on Monday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po mentioned that the 124 strategic companies were anticipated to attract HK$73 billion in investment and generate approximately 25,000 job opportunities.

This marks an increase from HK$60 billion in investment and 22,000 anticipated jobs when the earlier group was announced last November.

Several roles in the most recent group are anticipated to be “high-value positions” within research and development, along with managerial roles, according to Chan.

Out of the 124 companies, roughly 75 percent have set up or plan to set up their regional or global headquarters in Hong Kong.

Chan mentioned that almost 90 percent have established research and development facilities in the city, or plan to do so shortly, collectively taking up approximately 2.6 million square feet of commercial and industrial space.

4. In what way does OASES contribute to Hong Kong’s overall economic plan?

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu mentioned in his 2022 policy speech that the OASES would be established within the Office of the Financial Secretary to draw in high-potential strategic companies from across the globe.

The office is a component of a larger governmental effort to revive Hong Kong’s status as a global center, after a mass departure of businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lopsided economic recovery.

OASES concentrates on areas including life and health technology, artificial intelligence and data science, financial technology, and advanced manufacturing and renewable energy – all sectors recognized by the government as crucial for expanding the city’s economy.

Prominent organizations that have collaborated with OASES in the past comprise the global biopharmaceutical research firm GlaxoSmithKline,Arm China– the Chinese division of British semiconductor company Arm Holdings – and the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, also referred to as RedNote.

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This piece was first published in the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), a top news outlet covering China and Asia.

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