Monday: Hong Kong Businesses

Monday we visited with the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce Chief Economist. We discussed the economy since 1997 when Hong Kong was returned to China, and what the near future holds for Hong Kong. Since Hong Kong has very open trade, goods, information and people move in and out very easily and rapidly. This makes it the premier gateway to China.

Then, we visited DP World, a marine terminal for container vessels. 23 Million twenty-foot (container) equivalent units move through their terminal annually. Prior, it was owned by a U.S. company, but is now owned by Dubai. We also heard about an adjacent logistics company, ATL, which has 9 million square feet of warehouse space there at the terminal. Their major customers are DHL, Mercedes Benz, and Liz Claiborne.

Monday night, we crossed through the border to mainland China and traveled up to Guandzhou province for plant visits on Tuesday and Wednesday. After less than an hour of driving, I could see a major difference between Hong Kong and China. Here's one image of the area around Shenzen.