Hong Kong officials and business leaders used this year’s GBA-ASEAN Summit to cast the city as a “super connector” between Southeast Asia and China’s Greater Bay Area (GBA), pointing to rising trade, investment, and innovation links between two of Asia’s fastest-growing economic blocs.
The summit, organized by SCMP Live, the events arm of the South China Morning Post (SCMP), brought together more than 300 government officials, corporate leaders, institutional investors, and other delegates from Hong Kong, mainland China, and ASEAN, with virtual participants joining from around 30 countries and regions, according to organizer figures.
This year’s event expanded its focus beyond Hong Kong-ASEAN ties to include the GBA, with part of the program hosted in Qianhai, Shenzhen. Speakers framed the shift as a reflection of the growing overlap between ASEAN’s manufacturing, consumer, and green economy opportunities and the GBA’s capital, technology, logistics, and industrial base.
In a keynote speech, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said ASEAN has been Hong Kong’s second largest merchandise trading partner for 16 consecutive years. Bilateral trade in goods grew 29% year-on-year to USD 214 billion in 2025, while services trade rose 10% to USD 20 billion in 2024, making ASEAN Hong Kong’s third largest trading partner in services, he said.
