Hong Kong Photo: VCG

 
China welcomes companies from all over the world, including those from the US, to continue to operate and develop in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), expressing the hope of jointly building up the international financial hub, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

"I hope that the American business community will work with all those who support Hong Kong's development and prosperity to make the 'Pearl of the Orient' more dazzling," Zhao Lijian, the spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, told a regular briefing.

The comments followed a statement by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Hong Kong on Thursday that the chamber will remain committed to Hong Kong as a home base for international business following the National Security Law, which took effect in HKSAR at 11 pm on Tuesday.

"It will take time for the business community to digest details of the law, but we hope it will not impact the dynamism and benefits of this great city, which continues to serve as an important gateway between East and West," the AmCham in Hong Kong said in the statement.

Looking forward to the future, as China's reform and opening-up continues to release strong economic vitality, and Hong Kong's ties with the Chinese mainland as well as countries around the world become closer and closer, the city will surely have a better tomorrow, and companies in Hong Kong will usher in a brighter future, Zhao said.

According to a recent survey by AmCham in Hong Kong on its 180 members, around 70.6 percent of respondents said their companies don't have plans to move capital, assets or business operations out of Hong Kong, while 62.2 percent said they personally won't consider leaving the city despite some concerns.