Hong Kong remains one of Asia’s leading hubs for regional headquarters and China-focused businesses in 2026, supported by preferential Mainland access, competitive taxes, and a pivotal role in the Greater Bay Area. For companies comparing Hong Kong and Singapore as an Asia-Pacific base, Hong Kong often provides structural advantages for China market entry, tax efficiency, and GBA connectivity.
Why Hong Kong Is the Best Place to Do Business in 2026
Hong Kong’s unique “one country, two systems” framework combines international business standards with direct institutional links to Mainland China, making it a powerful launchpad for Asia expansion. This positioning allows global companies to use Hong Kong as both an international financial centre and a low-friction springboard into the world’s second-largest economy.
Unlike many regional hubs, Hong Kong offers free capital movement, a convertible currency, and a sophisticated banking ecosystem that supports cross-border RMB and multi-currency transactions. These features make Hong Kong especially attractive for multinational corporations, family offices, and high-growth scale-ups that require seamless international treasury and financing operations.
Hong Kong as the Gateway to Mainland China and the GBA
Hong Kong benefits from the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), which grants tariff-free treatment to a wide range of Hong Kong-origin goods and gives Hong Kong service providers enhanced access in sectors such as finance, legal, logistics, and professional services. Subsequent supplements and the 2024 enhancements to CEPA have further eased qualification thresholds and expanded pilot measures in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), reinforcing Hong Kong’s privileged access to China.
The GBA—anchored by cities such as Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou—is being developed as a world-class innovation and technology cluster, supported by national-level strategies and cross-border infrastructure. Within this ecosystem, Hong Kong functions as the international financial, legal, and professional services hub, connecting global capital and talent to Mainland manufacturing, tech, and advanced services, which gives companies based in Hong Kong a strategic edge for China expansion.
Hong Kong’s Competitive Tax System vs Singapore
Hong Kong’s tax regime is simple, predictable, and highly competitive, particularly for regional headquarters and holding structures. It applies a territorial system of profits tax, with a two-tier rate of 8.25% on the first HKD 2 million of assessable profits and 16.5% on the remainder for corporations, while not levying GST/VAT, capital gains tax, or tax on dividends.
By contrast, Singapore charges a flat 17% corporate income tax rate, supplemented by partial exemptions and incentives, and imposes a 9% Goods and Services Tax on most goods and services from 2025. For many trading, holding, and China-focused structures, Hong Kong’s combination of territorial taxation, absence of GST, and lack of capital gains and dividend taxes can yield lower effective tax costs and simpler indirect tax compliance than in Singapore.
Regional Headquarters, Legal System, and Business Environment
Official statistics show that Hong Kong hosts over a thousand regional headquarters, in addition to numerous regional and local offices for overseas parent companies, confirming its role as a major management and coordination centre in Asia. This concentration of headquarters creates a mature ecosystem of banks, law firms, accountants, and corporate service providers that support complex cross-border operations.
Hong Kong operates under a common law legal system with an independent judiciary and strong protections for contracts and intellectual property, giving international investors a high degree of legal certainty. Together with free capital flows and no foreign-exchange controls, these legal and regulatory features make Hong Kong a trusted jurisdiction for listing vehicles, investment holding platforms, and regional headquarters structures.
For companies that define China and the GBA as their primary growth markets, Hong Kong’s CEPA advantages, GBA positioning, and tax structure often create a more compelling platform than Singapore. Businesses primarily targeting ASEAN or requiring specific Singapore-based incentives may still favour Singapore, but for China-centric regional strategies, Hong Kong frequently delivers a stronger strategic and financial fit.
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