About

Hong Kong is one of two special administrative regions of the People’s Republic of China, the other being Macau. With a land mass of 1,104 km2 and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong is very densely populated. Hong Kong’s population is 95 percent ethnic Chinese and 5 percent from other groups. Official languages in Hong Kong are Chinese and English. Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the First Opium War (1839–42) and was handed back to China in 1997. The region espoused minimum government intervention under the ethos of positive non-interventionism during the colonial era. The time period greatly influenced the current culture of Hong Kong, often described as “East meets West”, and the educational system, which used to loosely follow the system in England until reforms implemented in 2009. Under the principle of “one country, two systems”, Hong Kong has a different political system from mainland China. Hong Kong’s independent judiciary functions under the common law framework. The Basic Law of Hong Kong, its constitutional document, which stipulates that Hong Kong shall have a “high degree of autonomy” in all matters except foreign relations and military defense, governs its political system.

Hong Kong is a leading financial center and has a major capitalist service economy characterized by low taxation and free trade. The Hong Kong Doller is one of the most traded currency in the world. Please find more information here.

Main Advantages

• Excellent infrastructure and leading global financial center
• Low tax rate for individuals and companies as well
• Comprehensive tax treaty network

Taxation

• Income Tax: up to 17% maximum on income arrising from Hong Kong; Income derived from outside of Hong Kong is tax excempt
• Capital Gain Tax: None
• Inheritance Tax: None (from 2006 on)
• Gift Tax: None to 2.75% (if over 513.000HKD)
• Wealth Tax: None

Cost of Living

• Cost of living is relatively high, depending on the location the rent for a1 BR appartment can easily exceed 30.000USD/year. Purchase prices can exceed 800.000USD. You can check out more details here.

Requirements

• Obtaining a residence permit by a capital investement entrant scheme requires passive investors to proove net assets of 6.5million HKD to which the investor is beneficially entitled throughout the two years preceding his application.
• Business investment visas are granted to qualifed foreign entrepreneurs who must proove the incorporation of a company, creation of local jobs through investment activities and the useage of local vendors and suppliers amongst others.