The number of business operations in Hong Kong with parent companies located outside Hong Kong was 9 025 in 2020 which remained broadly the same as compared to 9 040 last year, according to the results of a joint survey conducted by Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) and the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) release today (November 27).     

     Results of the 2020 Annual Survey of Companies in Hong Kong with Parent Companies Located outside Hong Kong show that the 9 025 companies comprised 1 504 operating as regional headquarters (RHQs), 2 479 as regional offices (ROs) and 5 042 as local offices (LOs).

     In terms of source country/territory, Mainland China ranked the first with 1 986 companies, followed by Japan (1 398), the United States (1 283), the United Kingdom (665) and Singapore (453).     

     By sector, import/export trade, wholesale and retail topped the list (4 212), followed by financing and banking (1 735), and professional, business and education services (1 392).

     In terms of jobs, the number of people engaged by overseas and Mainland companies in Hong Kong was 483 000 in 2020, down slightly by around 2 per cent compared to 493 000 in 2019.

Survey definitions
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Regional Headquarters: an office with parent company located outside Hong Kong which has managerial control over offices and/or operations in the region (i.e. Hong Kong plus one other place or more).

Regional Office: an office with parent company located outside Hong Kong which co-ordinates offices and/or operations in the region (i.e. Hong Kong plus one other place or more).

Local Office: an office with parent company located outside Hong Kong which only takes charge of the business in Hong Kong (and nowhere else). 

Survey methodology
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     This survey, the response to which is voluntary in nature, refers to the position as at June 1, 2020. Owing to the lack of a complete sampling frame of companies covered in the survey, the number of RHQs, ROs and LOs enumerated in each survey round represents only the best snapshot that could be taken at the time of the survey. Changes between years in the number of RHQs, ROs and LOs may be affected by the continuous improvement in the sampling frame of companies and the response rate. Furthermore, changes between years in the total number of people engaged by the companies concerned may also be affected by the response patterns of companies of different employment sizes. With the limitations mentioned above, the survey results should be interpreted with some caution.

     The survey results are presented in greater details in the "Report on 2020 Annual Survey of Companies in Hong Kong with Parent Companies Located outside Hong Kong" published by the C&SD. The publication is available for download free of charge at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/sp360.jsp?productCode=B1110004).  
             
     Users who have enquiries about the survey results may contact the Business Expectation Statistics Section of the C&SD (Tel: 3579 2311; email: regional-offices@censtatd.gov.hk).

Ends/Friday, November 27, 2020
Issued at HKT 16:30

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