Youth is one of the advantages of Hong Kong as an international financial center
Many breakthrough developments in history came from young people’s willingness to take risks and try things that people at the time considered a waste of time and futile. Are those things that only young people in the financial market can do and are some of the opportunities that Hong Kong can consider?
Author: GUDORDI | 2024-01-02
Is there still room for Hong Kong to develop in the global capital market? (Shutterstock)
I have no regrets about how many unfair things happened when I was young now.
Right and wrong are all in my heart and
I risk my life to survive.
No matter how many times we succeed or fail,
we must create a heroic story
and go through all kinds of dangers to brave
life and death and leave a name for ourselves.
I am willing to let go of the sorrow. I am willing to taste
the joys and sorrows. I know myself…
──Theme song of “Heroes Are Young”
(lead vocal by Guan Zhengjie, music composed by Gu Jiahui, lyrics written by Deng Weixiong)
Many great movements originated from young people
The definition of youth has always been controversial. In the eyes of many people, how much do young men in their 20s and 30s know about world affairs? This view is not unreasonable, but in fact, several great human teachers in history were only around 30 years old when they debuted. For example, the Buddha Sakyamuni began to awaken and Jesus began to preach when he was around 30 years old. The author also recalled a speech titled “The Ripple of Hope” delivered by Robert F. Kennedy, the younger brother of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, in 1966:
Many great movements in thought and action in human history originated from young people: a young monk (Martin Luther) started the religious reform, a young general (Alexander the Great) expanded his empire from Macedonia to the earth. On the edge, a young woman (Joan of Arc) regains territory for France and a young explorer (Vespucci) discovers the New World. When Schefferson proclaimed to the world the idea that “all men are created equal”, he was only 32 years old. Yet many of the world’s great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant reformation, a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth, and a young woman reclaimed the territory of France. It was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and 32 year old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that all men are created equal.
The world needs the quality of youth
The author mentioned the above speech mainly to explain that in the “industry” of international financial center, Hong Kong is still young, which may be its comparative advantage. As for what it means to be young, the next paragraph of the speech is worth pondering:
The world needs the quality of youth: youth does not refer to a certain period of life, but a state of mind, a state of will, a quality of imagination, a courage that can override timidity, an unwillingness to be comfortable and the courage to explore attitude. This world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the life of ease.
This statement is a bit mysterious, and I leave it to the readers to digest it slowly. International financial centers are something that only appeared after the 17th century. Strictly speaking, there have only been three real international financial centers in history, representing three not exactly the same financial cultures, and they were developed in different periods in the past 400 years. Leading the way in the global financial industry.
The first is the Netherlands in the 17th century. Not many people may know that the Netherlands was once a global economic power. America was first discovered by the Dutch. New York’s Wall Street was also built by the Dutch. The world’s first stock market was in Amsterdam. The first financial crisis (Tulip Crisis) ) also happened in the Netherlands. Over time, Britain replaced the Netherlands. From the 18th century to the early 20th century, London dominated the global financial center. It was not until after World War I that the center of gravity of the global economy rapidly shifted to the United States, and New York became the world’s largest financial center.
Is there still room for development in Hong Kong in the global capital market?
Compared with these “predecessors”, Hong Kong is obviously insignificant. Hong Kong has always been only one of the markets in “Asia ex-Japan”, and “Asia ex-Japan” has never entered the core of the global capital market. However, since Tsingtao Brewery was listed as H-shares in Hong Kong in 1993, leading companies in China’s major industries, including industry, telecommunications, infrastructure, banking, insurance, technology, etc., have successively been listed in Hong Kong. At that time, the United States and international funds were very open to Chinese companies. Therefore, the IPO business of Chinese companies led to the rapid development of Hong Kong’s capital market and the total market value of the Hong Kong stock market to be among the best in the world.
The author briefly outlines the history of Hong Kong and the global capital market. It can be seen that Hong Kong’s financial industry was lucky in its early development and relied solely on helping domestic companies go public. But now the situation has reversed, which raises a question: Is there still room for Hong Kong to develop in the global capital market?
Since the United States is the world’s largest source of capital, the development of Hong Kong will be much more difficult than before. However, if the development opportunities are completely zero, I believe it may not be so bad. Or we can ask: Have all opportunities now been taken? Is the current global capital market fair and just, and is most of the participants satisfied?
What only young people in the financial market do
The theme song of “Heroes Are Born” is quoted at the beginning of this article, which means that perhaps only those young men who “still have the energy to be foolish and are not afraid of hardships and failures” will be willing to try to open up the opportunities brought by “taking care of unfair things”──those experienced , often just choose to be lazy and unwilling to face it. Kennedy’s speech also emphasized that many breakthrough developments in history came from young people’s willingness to take risks and try things that people at the time considered a waste of time and futile. Are those things that only young people in the financial market can do and are some of the opportunities that Hong Kong can consider?
Contact the author: Gudordi@proton.me
