Harris 1

Ryan Harris

Mr. Phillips

English 3

08 May 2017

Hong Kong Impacting Chinas Economy

China relies heavily on Hong Kongs economy. Having Hong Kong as a part of

Chinas economic system helped China to become one of the world leaders in the

economy today. However, Hong Kong was not always a part of China. There were

times where they were separate, and Chinas economic difference shows how much of

an impact Hong Kong makes on China. With Hong Kong gaining a lot of economic

popularity in Asia, this makes them a very popular place for other countries to trade

with. Hong Kong throughout history has been a bridge to Chinas economic success,

and China hopes that this can continue into the foreseeable future. Hong Kongs

independence from China would decrease Chinas economy, because earlier on when

Hong Kong and China just joined, the economy skyrocketed.

China and Hong Kong are a great example of one country relying on another for

resources, but there are risks. Even though China heavily relies on Hong Kongs

economy, Hong Kongers are afraid that China will redirect funds away from Hong Kong,

which will make their economy plummet (Sadek). Currently, Hong Kong is the biggest

part of Chinas economy. If China redirects funds away from Hong Kong, then there will

not be a need for Hong Kong as a major ally for Chinas economy. Hong Kong would

still be helping Chinas economy, but there would not be a bigger impact, which may
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cause some problems for Hong Kongs economic success, no matter how successful

they are now.

Hong Kongs excellent geographic location provides a plethora of citizens from

other countries to travel there. Having more visitors will allow for economy to boom, and

Hong Kong would be able to sell a lot more to the customers (Ferris). Singapore,

another big economic power in Asia, has easy accessibility to Hong Kong. Trading that

occurs between these two power countries allows for both economies to boom, which

also helps China. There have been reports of the possibility of China intervening into

Hong Kongs economic successes (Sadek). If China were to intervene, Hong Kong

would lose tons of money, and other surrounding countries, like Singapore, would also

lose money. However, China and Hong Kong attempted to set up a system to where

something like this will not occur, so both countries are satisfied.

The One Country, Two Systems law that China and Hong Kong follow is a very

well thought out plan. This law makes Hong Kong and China together as one country,

but their governmental systems are different. Separate government systems allows

each country to have the right to self-determination instead of arguing over laws

(Ferris). This law benefits Hong Kong because it provides a lot of security for their

economy, in case China were to try and use them to their advantage. If this system

werent in place, there would be much more conflict between China and Hong Kong, as

well as some allies of each country.

Conflict between China and Hong Kong arose with a corruption plan that China

put in place. Their plan was to get rid of corruption, which is very hard to do. Corruption
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is everywhere and it is not possible to eradicate it completely. This plan impacted Hong

Kongs economy severely. Their economy relies heavily on consumer spending, and

having this plan put in place by China decreased the amount of consumer spending

(Sadek). Chinas plan makes Hong Kongs economy plummet, which also leads to

Chinas economy going down as well. Hong Kong is a big reason for Chinas economic

success, and if their economy goes down, then so does Chinas.

As stated earlier, Hong Kongs location provides a great place to trade goods,

and spend lots of money. The location of Hong Kong in relation to China is superb.

Hong Kong allows very easy access between other countries and China, which allows

for Chinas economy to increase as well (Ferris). This shows that Hong Kong is the

biggest reason for Chinas economic success, because without Hong Kong, China will

not be as successful as it is today. These two countries being completely separate in

the past show how much China struggled to be an economic power in the world without

Hong Kongs help.

In 1997, Hong Kong and China reunited after being apart. As soon as this

happened, Chinas economy boomed and became very popular worldwide as an

economic power. 20 years later, today, many advancements in Chinas economy are

shown in their city buildings, all the investments China is making in companies, etc.

(Makinen). Without Hong Kong, China would not be as economically successful, and

most likely be struggling to keep their country stable.

Before Hong Kong reunited with China, Chinas economy was struggling.

Ranking 24th regionally, Chinas economic systems are very poor. Their economy is
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mostly unfree and the possibility of reforming their economic system is very low

(China). On the other hand, Hong Kong ranks first regionally, and still remain as one of

the most powerful and competitive economies (Hong Kong). The excellent location

allows for them to be a powerhouse economy. However, Hong Kongs economy is

currently in decline, decreasing by 0.5% in the last year (Poon). They are expected to

bounce back from the decline by a predicted two percent increase next year. At this

rate, their economy can keep improving and become an unstoppable economic power

for the future. Having a great economy in Hong Kong will provide a lot of help to China

and its economy.

Hong Kong provides a huge assistance towards Chinas economy. Their growth

on China will allow for China to learn from Hong Kongs methods of how to run the

economy, and how to make it very successful. If Hong Kong were to become

independent, then China would have a very rough time trying to become the economic

power that they were when Hong Kong was a part of China. If these two countries were

to separate, Hong Kongs economy would still flourish because of its ability to self

maintain their very successful economy. China, on the other hand, would have a much

tougher time and struggle greatly with having a successful economy, because without

Hong Kong, Chinas economy would perish.

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Works Cited

"China." China Economy: Population, GDP, Facts, Trade, Business, Inflation,

Corruption. The Heritage Foundation, 2017. Web. 05 May 2017.

Ferris, George D. "What Change in China Means for Trade in Hong Kong." AgExporter,

Mar, 2017, pp. 8-10, SIRS Government Reporter, https://sks.sirs.com.

"Hong Kong." Hong Kong Economy: Population, Facts, GDP, Business, Trade, Inflation.

The Heritage Foundation, 2017. Web. 05 May 2017.

Makinen, Julie. "China's Edge in Hong Kong." Los Angeles Times, 01 Oct, 2016, pp.

A.1, SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

Poon, Daniel. "Economic and Trade Information on Hong Kong." Economic and Trade

Information on Hong Kong | HKTDC. N.p., 2017. Web. 05 May 2017.

Sadek, CFA Shibli. "Six Economic Reasons For Hong Kong Independence Protests."

Investopedia. N.p., 10 Oct. 2016. Web. 05 May 2017.