Since the handover, Hong Kong’s status as the three major international financial, shipping and trade centers has remained stable and it is the third largest financial center in the world.

In the ten years since Hong Kong returned to the motherland, with the strong support of the central government, the young special administrative region has shown great flexibility and adaptability. The three major industries of finance, trade, and shipping have joined forces to become a major driver of economic growth. The locomotive is attracting more and more domestic and overseas funds and enterprises to settle in Hong Kong.

Currently, more than 70 of the top 100 banks in the world operate in Hong Kong. Hong Kong currently has more than 310 banking institutions and more than 180 insurance companies, as well as approximately 700 securities brokerage firms and 1,900 unit trust funds or mutual fund companies.

At the same time, Hong Kong’s foreign exchange market has continued to develop and improve, with active trading. It has now become the sixth largest foreign exchange market in the world; Hong Kong continues to be one of the most open insurance markets in the world; Hong Kong is still the most active in the world One of the gold markets; Hong Kong's asset management industry is highly internationalized; the bond market is also developing rapidly.

As the seventh largest shipping center in the world, a ship enters Hong Kong every three minutes and handles 1.4 standard containers every two seconds. The deadweight tonnage of ships owned and managed by Hong Kong shipowners increased from 55 million tons in 1997 to 64 million tons last year. The shipping industry's revenue increased from more than HK$70 billion in 1997 to more than HK$130 billion in 2005.

There are currently about 80 international shipping companies in Hong Kong providing more than 500 flights every week, with destinations covering 500 ports around the world.