The global business community’s interest in investing in Hong Kong remains strong, as delegates at the ongoing Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2026 lauded the city’s role as a unique gateway and voiced confidence in its prospects for deeper collaboration with the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP).

The BFA conference, which opened on Tuesday in Hainan province, has gathered more than 2,000 high-level participants from around the world and features a series of side events for exchanging ideas and views on how to foster sustainable growth and investment across Asian economies.

China-Britain Business Council Chief Executive Peter Burnett, who joined a roundtable discussion on investing in China, described the country as an ideal market. He said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s January visit to Beijing — the first trip to China by a British leader in eight years — has gone a long way toward enhancing investor confidence in bilateral cooperation.

In 2025, China drew 747.69 billion yuan ($108.22 billion) in foreign investment, with inflows from the United Kingdom increasing 15.9 percent year-on-year, according to official figures from the Chinese Commerce Ministry.

Speaking about British companies’ localization strategies in the Chinese market, Burnett — also the former chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong — said the special administrative region can serve as a starting point, as it shares a deep historical connection with the UK and offers “easy and familiar access” for firms to the Chinese mainland market.

Hong Kong has “a very established way of doing things, the rule of law, courts, accounting, and free flow of capital”, he said. “That’s why I think Hong Kong will always have a very important role in China’s economic prosperity.”

In the same vein, Mohammad Abunayyan, founder and chairman of the board of directors of the Saudi Arabia-based ACWA Power, praised Hong Kong’s financial strengths.

“It’s a place where you can tap into financial platforms and structures, listings, or other means of financial services, like insurance and everything else.”

David Perez-Des Rosiers, director of the Canada China Business Council’s Beijing chapter, said Hong Kong is an important bridge to the mainland, adding that many members of the council have “significant operations” in the special administrative region.

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The companies have been taking advantage of various cross-boundary policies and the different integration of services between Hong Kong and the mainland, he added.

“We try to engage and understand what are the opportunities, what does it mean, and we look forward to engaging more with Hong Kong.”

According to Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, as of early June in 2025, the city hosted 30 regional headquarters of Canadian companies, while about 100 Canadian firms had set up regional or local offices in Hong Kong.

Foreign representatives in Boao also voiced strong confidence in the prospects for collaboration between the Hainan FTP and Hong Kong.

Holger Bingmann, the chair of International Chamber of Commerce’s Germany branch, cited partnerships among major European cities as a reference, saying “it’s more than obvious” that Hong Kong and Hainan should work more closely together to attract overseas investment, given the two places’ geographic proximity.

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Meanwhile, Lorenzo Riccardi, chairman of the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce, said he believes the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, together with the Hainan FTP, “will promote significantly southern China economic development in the attraction of foreign investors”.

He said that many Italian enterprises are seeking more opportunities in China and are willing to plug into Chinese supply chains amid the country’s rapid progress in innovation.

Riccardi also underlined the need for a stable investment environment as global uncertainties mount.

“Amid the geopolitical crisis in multiple regions of the world, we need to have stability both in government policy — which we believe China is granting — but also in the financial market,” he said. “The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is granting both international banks and domestic banks an excellent financial environment.”

Contact the writer at gabylin@chinadailyhk.com