The Significance and Impact of China Mobile's Listing
The fundamental shift in Hong Kong’s financial market likely began with the listing of China Mobile in Hong Kong in October 1997. Looking back, this event carries four major symbolic meanings.
Author: GUDORDI | 2026-04-04
不自見，故明；不自是，故彰；不自伐，故有功；不自矜，故長；夫唯不爭，故天下莫能與之爭。
──《道德經》，老子
Earlier, I discussed several characteristics of market forces. This time, I intend to discuss one more: the impact brought about by major events. Applying my consistent metaphor of water, a characteristic of market development is that as a river continuously rolls and accumulates, it naturally encounters specific terrain or great mountains one day that elevate the river’s volume and momentum to an entirely different level. This is perhaps where the impact of China Mobile’s listing in Hong Kong lies concerning Hong Kong’s pursuit as an international financial center.
Hong Kong has achieved extraordinary success, yet its historical depth remains relatively short.
As I pointed out previously, the development of social phenomena involves a degree of “path dependency,” and Hong Kong’s journey as an international financial center is no exception. Undoubtedly, with a fundraising volume of over $30 billion USD in 2025, Hong Kong’s stock market returned to the top global ranking; many surveys rank Hong Kong as the world’s third-largest financial center, trailing only New York and London. While this view is quite reasonable, we should not forget in our celebration that, in terms of overall integrated financial strength, a significant gap still exists between Hong Kong and the top-tier cities of New York and London. This is actually quite normal, considering that New York and London combined have over 400 years of history as international financial centers, whereas Hong Kong has not even reached 40 years.
That being said, despite the substantial distance between Hong Kong and New York or London, achieving its current status is already no small feat. Looking across Asia, China, and the entire globe, countless cities aspire to become international financial centers—many with the backing of national policies—but how many actually succeed in the end? In the history of global finance, it is likely that no other international financial center has risen as rapidly as Hong Kong. This is perhaps both Hong Kong’s greatest strength and its hidden concern, which I may discuss again if the opportunity arises.
The difficulty of developing an international financial center is in a league of its own.
It is worth noting that if one seeks to build an industry, developing an international financial center is perhaps the most difficult. While there may be certain methods to build a regional, local, or even national-level financial center, creating a true international financial center (IFC) is far more difficult. This is because the world may only need one, or at most a handful that can be counted on one hand. Before the 18th century, Amsterdam was the only true IFC; from 1784 until the eve of World War II, that role belonged to London.
After WWII, New York replaced London as the world’s largest IFC. However, with the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 1971, the recycling of petrodollars, and the support of Western Europe’s economic strength, London was able to gradually regain much of its lost ground. Notably, almost all of the world’s offshore financial centers were former British colonies, and the “brain” of that entire system remained in London. Consequently, the development of global offshore financial centers continuously bolstered London’s financial prowess.
In terms of the sheer volume of investment capital, New York significantly outpaces London; however, in terms of overall depth and breadth, London is not necessarily inferior to the United States. Regardless, once an international financial center has established a firm foothold, there is virtually no upper limit to the expansion of its business scope and scale. Unless they commit significant blunders or fail to seize opportunities, it is extremely difficult for newcomers to get a piece of the pie or achieve a breakthrough. Although the industrial and economic power of Japan and Germany once reigned supreme, Tokyo and Frankfurt ultimately failed to become true IFCs, demonstrating that developing such an industry is no easy task.
The Four Major Significances of China Mobile's Listing in Hong Kong
However, through a fortuitous confluence of circumstances, Hong Kong was able to forge ahead on the path to becoming an international financial center during the twenty-year period from 1999 to 2019. A key turning point and catalytic factor in this journey was the listing of China Mobile in Hong Kong. As I pointed out in my article on March 9th, the country’s initial policy was likely not to use Hong Kong as the primary listing destination for Chinese enterprises, but rather to treat it as a pilot site. This is why the relatively well-known but small-cap Tsingtao Brewery was chosen to list in Hong Kong first; truly large-scale state-owned enterprises (SOEs), such as those in petro-chemicals and energy, were still intended for listing in New York. Between 1994 and 1997, some SOEs in steel and infrastructure listed in Hong Kong, but these appeared to be exploratory in nature. Meanwhile, Chinese enterprises listed in the United States did not seem to achieve any significant breakthroughs either. The fundamental shift in Hong Kong’s financial market likely began with the listing of China Mobile in Hong Kong in October 1997.
Looking back, this event carries four major symbolic meanings. First, China Mobile’s simultaneous listing in both Hong Kong and the United States signaled a subtle shift in national policy, suggesting that Hong Kong might have the opportunity to assume a role beyond that of a mere experiment. Second, this arrangement provided the objective conditions to test and compare the relative advantages and disadvantages of listing in Hong Kong versus the United States. Third, as a representative top-tier domestic enterprise, China Mobile had a significant impact on the positioning of Chinese companies in global capital markets. Fourth, China Mobile’s listing strategy at the time was quite groundbreaking and influential. It is worth noting that while China Mobile listed in October 1997, its impact only began to emerge gradually after 1998 and 1999, demonstrating another characteristic of market forces. I will discuss this further.
