Is Hong Kong or Shanghai Better?
As far as room for development is concerned, there is little room for development in Hong Kong. In China’s development strategy, the status of Hong Kong is also far inferior to that of Shanghai. Hong Kong’s geographical space is also very limited, the per capita housing space is small, the current degree of prosperity is far from comparable after the reunification, and the economy is in decline. In contrast, with the emergence of the concept of free trade zone in Shanghai, Disney is about to form a new tourism economic growth point, coupled with the economic prosperity of the Yangtze River Delta region, which gives people unlimited reverie space in terms of financial industry, service industry and industry.
Which City Is Bigger, Shanghai or Hong Kong?
Hong Kong covers an area of 1104 square kilometers with a population of 7184000 (mid-2013).
Shanghai covers an area of 6340.5 square kilometers and has a population of 25 million (2013).
From the above, it can be seen that the area of Hong Kong is only the top 1/6 of that of Shanghai, and the population of Hong Kong is less than 1/3 of that of Shanghai.
Which Place Is More Prosperous in Hong Kong or Shanghai?
In terms of internationalization, Hong Kong absolutely surpasses Shanghai.
The basic Law of Hong Kong clearly stipulates that members of the Legislative Council can be filled by foreigners. In other words, foreigners can directly participate in the operation of the Hong Kong government and participate in the formulation of Hong Kong’s laws and regulations, so as to better ensure that Hong Kong’s “high-rise buildings” can be close to other first-class countries in the world. What is even more commendable is that because of their sensitive foreign status, these foreigners will not come into contact with various political parties and are often separated from the establishment camp and the pan-democratic camp. This means that they can devote more energy to specific routine work, so that they can become real government officials. They do not want many local members of Hong Kong to meaninglessly accuse their political opponents of “lackeys” and “poisoning” as soon as they appear in the televised debate of the Legislative Council.
Next, when I talk about people’s life, when I go to Hong Kong, I will find that most of the signboards are in both Chinese and English, and even the obscure cafes on street corners have bilingual menus. And in prosperous areas such as Mong Kok, places to change money are everywhere, and even coins like Pakistan can be exchanged at any time. In Guangzhou, sometimes you need to apply in advance to exchange US dollars.
There are many foreigners in Hong Kong and Shanghai. the difference is that in Hong Kong I can see many elderly foreigners getting off the bus with crutches and plastic bags. Obviously, they are not tourists. Is there any better international proof that a city can attract elderly people from other countries to settle here? I’m afraid not.
Shanghai’s internationalization is more reflected in business, such as business, tourism, administration, but Hong Kong has long penetrated into every corner of society, such as education, housing, food and so on. Therefore, the internationalization of Hong Kong is far higher than that of Shanghai.
Any city in the world is more prosperous than Hong Kong, including London and Tokyo. The reason is simple, density. No other city in the world can compete with Hong Kong for density. The density of high-rise shopping malls and convenience stores is not in the same order of magnitude. Cars are like running water and horses are like dragons. No other city in the world can have such a density.
Shanghai and Hong Kong Are Both Economic Centers. Why Is Shanghai Not as Famous as Hong Kong?
The GDP of Shanghai surpassing Hong Kong was in 2009, when the GDPGDP in Shanghai was 1.4901 trillion yuan, while that in Hong Kong was 1.4394 trillion yuan. By 2017, Shanghai GDP has led Hong Kong by more than 700 billion yuan, breaking the 3 trillion mark for the first time to reach 3.0133 trillion yuan, and Hong Kong’s GDP in 2017 is 2.3049 trillion yuan. Although the GDP of Shanghai has already surpassed that of Hong Kong, but in the ranking of international cities, Hong Kong’s ranking is higher than that of Shanghai. Why is this so?
First, Shanghai’s economy is not strong enough.
Hong Kong’s per capita GDP has exceeded US $40, 000, which is a typical developed economy, while Shanghai’s per capita GDP is only about half of that of Hong Kong, which is still far behind the developed economy standard of US $30, 000 per capita. One of Hong Kong and Shanghai is a developed economy, and the other can only be regarded as a middle-and high-income economy. There is still a generation gap in the economic development of the two cities.
Second, Hong Kong has a higher international status in financial and other fields.
On September 12, 2018, the 24th Global Financial Center Index was held in Guangzhou. The Global Financial Center Index lists 100 financial centers, of which Shanghai ranks third in Asia and fifth in the world. Also on the list was Beijing, which ranked eighth.
As one of the four little dragons in Asia, the overall strength of Hong Kong is very strong. Hong Kong is one of the five largest cities in the world, the freest economy and one of the most competitive cities in the world. As Hong Kong is a world-famous free port with relatively little financial supervision and higher freedom of financial activities, it is favored by international capital. In recent years, Shanghai’s financial industry is developing rapidly, and with the help of the construction of Shanghai Free Trade Zone, the degree of liberalization is also increasing. In the future, Shanghai will certainly develop into a RMB financial center, while Hong Kong will become an important RMB offshore financial center, and the status of the two cities in the financial sector will be further enhanced.
Third, Hong Kong still has an advantage in the field of science, technology and education.
Although Shanghai is also one of the cities with the most concentrated higher education resources in the country, compared with several universities in Hong Kong, there is still a certain gap in the educational level and original ability of universities in Shanghai. Just as the United States has many world-famous financial centers such as New York and Chicago, the vast China should at least have two global financial centers, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Although Shanghai may surpass Hong Kong in the future, the competition between the two cities is benign, sustained and mutually reinforcing.
In fact, Shanghai has only surpassed Hong Kong in some important economic indicators, but it is not yet fully ahead of Hong Kong. For example, there are eight companies in Hong Kong, one more than Shanghai, in the number of companies listed among the world’s top 500 companies in 2018. This shows that there is still a solid backbone in Hong Kong’s economic development.
Shanghai’s economic strength is not weak, but what it lacks is extensive global influence. At present, Shanghai’s economic strength ranks first in China and ranks first in the world. Shanghai is a national central city in China and one of the largest cities in the world. Shanghai is committed to becoming an international financial center in 2020. With the substantial increase of China’s national strength and international influence, Shanghai has gradually stepped into the forefront of the world. In spite of this, it will not be a pity to move the top cities of the established international financial center in a short period of time. It is believed that Shanghai will catch up in the future.
