Invest Hong Kong, the government's main vehicle for attracting new business from both the mainland and foreign cities, offers an extensive list of reasons why French companies wanting to establish a presence in Asia and especially on the mainland should look to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR).
The organization cites the city's openness and adherence to free market principles as two of its biggest benefits.
This comes in the form of a strong legal system, an independent judiciary that upholds the rule of law, the protection of intellectual property rights, free flow of information and free press, a simple and low tax regime and advanced banking and financial infrastructures.
And expatriate businessmen and company executives are often quoted as giving high marks to professionals in the city's workforce, who are described as hard working and ambitious.
Hong Kong has ranked at the top of lists by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal as the world's freest economies for a number of years: foreign investments in Hong Kong are not subject to any approval procedures, regulatory regimes or requirements, investor profits can be transferred overseas at will and there are no foreign exchange restrictions.
The city's tax regime is simple and predictable. No tax is levied on foreign-sourced income of any kind and there is no estate duty on non-Hong Kong assets. There is no capital gains tax, no VAT or sales tax and no tax on dividends or bank interest.
Meanwhile, the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, or CEPA, which was first promulgated in 2001 and is now in its third phase of expansion, is further expanding the reach of Hong Kong-based companies wanting to extend their operations into the huge mainland market.
CEPA, basically a free trade agreement between Hong Kong and the mainland, provides preferential and accelerated access to markets in key sectors on the mainland. Benefits include zero tariffs on all goods that meet rules of origin under the agreement, plus there is a reduction or complete elimination of import quotas in some categories.
CEPA offers opportunities for French companies to enter the mainland by setting up in Hong Kong, partnering Hong Kong companies or even acquiring a Hong Kong company. It makes Hong Kong one of the most direct and cost-effective paths into the mainland market.
With Hong Kong bordering on the huge manufacturing hinterland of the Pan Pearl River Delta region, that includes Macao and nine other southern provinces including Guangdong, that in total accounts for around one third of China's total population, Invest Hong Kong touts the city's management skills, market knowledge and access to international markets and capital as the perfect complement to the PPRD's low-cost manufacturing potential and huge consumer base.
Any French company setting up in Hong Kong would join the 570 French companies already operating in the territory.
These are mainly in the services sector - banking, insurance and communications - but there is also a strong presence in luxury goods, including wines and spirits, fashion accessories, haute couture, perfumes and cosmetics.
