July 1st marks the 27th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland. Over the past year, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has shown excellent development momentum, with continuous economic development, increasingly improved social environment, and steady improvement in the world's competitiveness ranking. Recently, the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, released the latest 2024 World Competitiveness Annual Report, and Hong Kong's ranking improved by two places to fifth in the world. It can be seen that Hong Kong is polishing its golden sign. The governance and prosperity are unstoppable, and we work together to write a new chapter.
In the 2024 Hong Kong Competitiveness Annual Report, Hong Kong's ranking rose. Among the four competitiveness factors in the annual report, Hong Kong's business efficiency and infrastructure rankings increased significantly, ranking among the top ten in the world, and government efficiency ranked among the top three in the world. , the ranking of economic performance has also improved significantly, reflecting the economic recovery in 2023. The latest statistics show that Hong Kong's overall exports and imports increased by 14.8% and 9.6% respectively in May 2024. Real GDP growth in the first quarter of 2024 was 2.7% year-on-year.
Dr. Bryan Lin Xiaohui, Member of the National Committee of the Hong Kong Political Consultative Conference and Realord Group and Sincere Chairman, said in an interview with CCTV News that there will be more than 9,000 companies based in Hong Kong with their headquarters in the mainland or overseas in 2023; international legal organizations such as The Hague Conference on Private International Law have been established in Hong Kong Institutions, more than half of the world's top 100 law firms practice in Hong Kong. In the next stage, Hong Kong can fully empower the development of emerging industries based on its own advantages.