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The Hong Kong Stock Exchange
Tel : (852) 2877-0704
Fax : (852) 2845-8919
Address : 83 Des Voeux Road Central Hong Kong
E-mail : info@hsi.com.hk
Trading Hours: From 10:00am to 12:30pm and from 2:30pm to 4:00pm
(Summer: From 10:00pm to 12:30am and from 2:30am to 4:00am New York time)
(Winter: From 9:00pm to 11:30pm and from 1:30am to 3:00am New York time)
Hong Kong Stock Exchange 2007- 2008 Budget
- Operating Revenues: HK$248.3 billion (US$$31.8 billion)
- of which, direct taxes: HK$130.9 billion
- of which, other recurrent revenue: HK$117.4 billion
- Capital Revenue: HK$76.7 billion
- Government Revenue HK$346.9 billion
- Operating Expenditures: HK$206.4 billion (US$$26.5 billion)
- Capital Expenditures: HK$30.1 billion
- Government Expenditures: HK$237.2 billion
- Subventions and other public sector spending: HK$19.4 billion
- Public Expenditure: HK$255.8 billion
- Fiscal reserves less government debt: HK$460.3 billion (end-March 2008)
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange known as the HKEX; SEHK: 0388 is the stock exchange of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is Asia's 2nd biggest stock market, behind the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing is the holding company for the exchange.
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange began in the late 19th century with began its first development in 1891.
A brief history of The Hong Kong Stock Exchange
Association of Stockbrokers in Hong Kong Founded in 1891.
The Association is renamed to Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1914.
Merger after World War II with Hong Kong Stockbrokers Association in 1947.
Hong Kong Stock Exchange is allowed to share info with other exchanges such as Far East Exchange LTD., Kam Ngan Stock Exchange Ltd, Kowloon Stock Exchange LTD in 1978.
Hong Kong Stock Exchange merges with other exchanges but retains name in 1986.
Computer trading systems are introduce April 2, 1986 to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange which modernized the system.
Automatic Order Matching and Execution System (AMS) is launched with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1993.
Hong Kong Stock Exchanges and Clearing becomes the holding company for the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2000.
AMS/3, the third generation system of Automatic Order Matching and Execution System is released in October of 2000. This system was upgraded to meet the increase in popularity of online stock trading.
David Webb becomes the independent non-executive director of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2003.
40 Largest Stocks of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by Market Capitalization
Source: Bloomberg, in billions of Hong Kong dollars, Data updated on Jan 20 2007.
1. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China - $1,720.49
2. PetroChina - $1,713.23
3. HSBC Holdings- $1,654.82
4. China Mobile- $1,411.83
5. Bank Of China- $1,175.62
6. China Life Insurance- $1,114.84
7. China Construction Bank- $1,074.01
8. Sinopec Corp - $769.91
9. Manulife Financial- $404.27
10. Bank of Communications - $392.54
11. China Shenhua Energy - $364.51
12. Hutchison Whampoa - $342.78
13. China Telecom - $317.25
14. Standard Chartered - $315.76
15. CNOOC - $290.30
16. Sun Hung Kai Properties - $249.18
17. China Merchants Bank - $245.62
18. Cheung Kong Holdings- $244.12
19. Ping An Insurance Group of China - $230.77
20. Bank of China (Hong Kong) Holdings - $225.73
21. Hang Seng Bank - $215.27
22. Foxconn International Holdings - $171.45
23. CLP Holdings - $140.52
24. Swire Pacific - $136.98
25. China Communications Construction - $128.69
26. China Unicom - $127.27
27. China Netcom - $121.84
28. MTR Corporation - $116.24
29. Esprit Holdings - $98.82
30. Hong Kong & China Gas - $96.29
31. Henderson Land Development - $94.99
32. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing - $94.60
33. Huaneng Power International - $90.30
34. Hutchison Telecommunications International - $89.84
35. Hang Lung Properties - $88.23
36. Sino Land - $87.78
37. Cathay Pacific Airways - $84.21
38. Aluminium Corp of China - $84.08
39. Air China - $84.02
40. Li & Fung - $82.17
Hong Kong Government Overview
Since the 1970's, the British has governed the economy of Hong Kong, but the Chinese laws. This policy has often been cited by economists such as Milton Friedman and the Cato Institute as an example of the benefits of laissez-faire capitalism. It has ranked as the world's freest economy in the Index of Economic Freedom for 14 consecutive years, since the inception of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1955. It also places first in the Economic Freedom of the World Report.
The government has intervened to create economic institutions such as the Hong Kong Stock Market and has been involved in public works projects and social welfare spending. All land in Hong Kong is owned by the government and leased to private users.
Hong Kong has had a more stable and liberal political-legal environment than most other countries. In the mid-20th century, while statist-collectivism was commonplace elsewhere in the world, the dominant political-economic philosophy of Hong Kong was free enterprise: economic non-intervention (laissez-faire) was a positive, deliberately adopted government policy.
Hong Kong stands out in terms of its high levels of business-economic freedom, growth, and prosperity. Not just foreign direct investors but indigenous firms have been greatly aided by Hong Kong's international openness and dependence on trade. Hong Kong seems likely to remain a highly free market-enterprise society. Such things as political production planning and price and import controls are fundamentally incompatible with the kind of globally open, competitive economic environment in which Hong Kong firms and industries operate.
Hong Kong has a highly favorable geographical position and trading opportunities have also been great wealth-generating assets. It has a superb sheltered natural harbor. For centuries, this had made Hong Kong a major haven for pirates before it became a British colony in 1841. Under British administration, it soon developed into a thriving legitimate international port. By the late 20th century, Hong Kong was the seventh largest port in the world and second only to New York and Rotterdam in terms of container throughput.
In addition to geographical position, another major natural industrial-commercial asset of Hong Kong has been human resources. The population of the territory was less than six millions in the late 20th century. However, there was an abundance of labor close by in the region that could be readily tapped through direct external investment and outsourcing. Most Hong Kong residents were also first- or second-generation immigrants (and often refugees).
The very center of Hong Kong's economic freedom comes from the government's hands-off policy. This model was developed in Hong Kong and Taiwan as a response to analyzing the cultural revolution effect in China. By 1990 Hong Kong's per capita income officially surpassed that of the ruling United Kingdom.
Since the new millennium the wealth gap continues to widen in Hong Kong. The gini coefficient is used to measure discrepancies between the rich and poor. As of 2006 Hong Kong's measurement is at 53.3, which means the difference between the rich and poor is far greater than that of the People’s Republic of China.
The currency used in Hong Kong is the Hong Kong dollar. Since 1983, it has been pegged at fixed rate to the USD due to the event of Black Saturday. The currency is allowed to trade within a range between 7.75 and 7.85 Hong Kong dollars to one United States dollar. The government's fiscal year is from April 1 to March 31 of the next year.
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