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The Place
An exciting, mysterious and glamorous city that is situated on China's south coast,
Hong Kong is an intoxicating place with a vibrant atmosphere and night-and-day activities.
It is renowned for its expansive skyline and monumental harbour. However, away from
the city limits, a world of experiences awaits: from mountains to beaches to deserted
islands. Hong Kong houses a population of seven million people, with 5 percent of
which being expatriates.
Notably, Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the First Opium War,
from 1939-1997, until the transfer of sovereignty from United Kingdom to the Public’s
Republic of China occurred. The time period under British colony greatly influenced
the current culture of Hong Kong, which is often described as "East meets West".
Hong Kong then adopted the principle of "one country, two systems". It has a different
political system from mainland China, with independent judiciary functions under
the common law framework.
The Economy
Hong Kong has a major capitalist economy that is perfectly characterised by low
taxation and free trade. It is well known to be one of the world's leading international
financial centres. Its currency, the Hong Kong dollar, is the eighth most traded
currency in the world.
Hong Kong is an important centre for international finance and trade, with one of
the greatest concentrations of corporate headquarters in the Asia-Pacific region.
Its GDP per capita at purchasing power parity is the 7th highest globally.
The nation’s main strengths lie in its high-tech and banking sectors.
The Lifestyle
Hong Kong hosts a high quality of life that is thrilling, relaxing and thoroughly
pleasurable.
The modern twists of the Western world are reflected in its cultural mix of the
territorial Chinese roots and the influences from its time as a British colony.
Hong Kong therefore balances a modernised way of life with traditional Chinese practices.
English is also widely spoken.
As for food, the fusion of East and West also characterises Hong Kong's cuisine,
where dim sum and fast food restaurants co-exist perfectly with haute cuisine. Expats
describe it as “an activity in and of itself”, with a very broad range of restaurants,
bars and clubs.
Hong Kong also has an active social scene for expats, with a prominent English community
which appeals to many UK expats. The expat community is much anglicised, with pubs
specialising in old-fashioned British food.
The Prospects
Multi-national companies rank Hong Kong as a popular location for their Asia Pacific
regional headquarters thanks to its unique economic qualities, marking it as one
of Asia Pacific’s central banking and financial centres.
By most estimates, the expat community in Hong Kong is huge, with close to 600,000
expats living there. Among the expat contingent is a large group of educated professionals,
earning very high incomes and are thus ideal potential clients for IFAs.
As an international financial adviser with the deVere Group, you are guaranteed
to experience exhilarating wonders of energy and ambition in Hong Kong.
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