HK Rejects Gloom After Ex-Morgan Stanley Chair Renews Claim City Is ‘Over’

qsfho)9um])vgvpe0}o2ub7b_media_dl_2.png Hong Kong Census and Statistics

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(Bloomberg) — Former Morgan Stanley Asia Chairman Stephen Roach has revived a debate over whether Hong Kong’s recovery demonstrates its enduring international appeal or a growing dependence on mainland China, prompting an apparent rebuttal from a senior official.

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The economist, who declared in a controversial column in 2024 that Hong Kong was finished, argued in a new piece last week that Beijing’s “hostile takeover” of the city in recent years has transformed it into “just another big Chinese city.” It’s changed so much under Beijing’s rule that Roach said it might better be called by its Mandarin name.

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“Today, its Mandarin name, Xianggang (fragrant harbor), which celebrates the city’s pre-colonial Chinese heritage, seems more apt than Hong Kong, a phonetic translation from Cantonese,” he wrote in a column published by Project Syndicate last Thursday.

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The commentary said Hong Kong’s recent resilience had come to depend on direct intervention by mainland authorities. China’s stock-market stimulus in September 2024 helped lift equities and unleash a wave of Chinese listings steered toward Hong Kong, according to Roach, who’s now senior fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center.

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It didn’t take long for a prominent city official to try to counter the pessimism about the financial hub.

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Hong Kong Acting Financial Secretary Michael Wong, in a piece published Wednesday by Sing Tao Daily, said recent media coverage had painted an excessively bleak picture of the city’s outlook. He didn’t single out Roach or any other commentator.

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“Some media commentaries have recently sought to paint an overly pessimistic picture of Hong Kong’s future, ignoring our city’s extraordinary resilience and vitality and turning a blind eye to the immense opportunities that continue to emerge,” Wong wrote. 

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He cited Hong Kong’s free and open business environment, common-law system and free flows of information and capital, as well as its role as a “super-connector” between China and the rest of the world.

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“Facts speak louder than words,” Wong wrote, pointing to a rebound in economic growth, trade and financial markets.

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Indeed, Hong Kong’s economy staged a powerful comeback last year, expanding at its fastest pace since 2021 on resilient trade and a resurgence in investment. The momentum has continued this year despite a global energy crisis unleashed by the war in Iran, thanks to an insatiable global demand for artificial intelligence.

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Data due Friday is expected to show the city’s ecoonomy grew 4.9% in the second quarter from a year earlier, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists, moderating from 5.9% in the first three months of 2026.

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The city’s market for initial public offerings has also revived. Eighty-seven companies raised HK$210.2 billion ($26.8 billion) in the first half, almost twice the amount a year earlier, Wong said. More than 500 listing applications were being processed at the end of June.