The transformation of Hong Kong in five charts

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong returned to China in 1997 after 156 years of British colonial rule. Here are some major transformations the financial hub has witnessed during the past 25 years.

Outshined by mainland china

While Hong Kong retains an outsized, indirect contribution to China’s economic growth given its status as the only Chinese financial centre not subject to capital controls, its own growth has been overshadowed by that of the mainland.

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Glitzy towers

Nevertheless, Hong Kong has benefited massively from China’s breakneck growth in recent decades. One aspect of that transformation is visible in the height of its skyline.

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Unaffordable housing

One of the side effects of vast sums of money flowing into this gateway city for investment is that the property market has absorbed some of it.

This makes it unaffordable for many of its residents, whose wages have failed to keep up with home prices.

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Hong Kong is now one of the world’s most expensive property markets.

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More mainlanders living in hong kong

Drawn in part by Hong Kong’s relative freedoms versus mainland China, more than 1 million mainland citizens have moved to the former British colony over the past 2-1/2 decades. More recently, COVID-19 and other factors have slowed down such arrivals, but also accelerated departures of longtime Hong Kong residents and expatriates frustrated with strict restrictions.

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(Compiled by Marius Zaharia; Graphics by Adolfo Arranz. Editing by Gerry Doyle)