NEW YORK, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Sustainable and stable trade ties between China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the United States are mutually beneficial, a senior official said here on Monday.
"I am keen to emphasize that the United States enjoys a trade surplus of 35 billion U.S. dollars with Hong Kong," Eddie Mak, Hong Kong Commissioner for Economic and Trade Affairs to the United States, said at a Spring Festival reception.
The United States is Hong Kong's second largest trading partner and Hong Kong offers the ninth largest export market for American goods, the senior official said.
"This is testimony to the mutual benefit to having a stable and seamless trade relationship between our economies," Mak told the audience. He added that Hong Kong, both a free trade practitioner and a supporter of the multilateral trading system, is always open to U.S. businesses and investment.
The senior official also called for joint efforts to further strengthen bilateral collaboration in various areas.
Mak said that the Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development have been offering enormous trade, investment and commercial potential in the HKSAR.
He noted that the economic resilience and its role as one of the world's leading financial centers are also among others that make Hong Kong appealing to foreign businesses.
Mak said Hong Kong's economic growth in 2018 as a whole is forecast at 3.2 percent while its unemployment rate stands at 2.8 percent, the lowest level for the past 20 years.
Hong Kong has been widely viewed as an ideal platform for fintech and other start-ups to raise funds given its status as one of the world's leading financial centers.
"Last year alone, the city raised some 37 billion U.S. dollars through Initial Public Offerings (IPOs)," said Mak, adding that in six of the past 10 years, Hong Kong topped the world in terms of IPOs.
