In October 1997, before the festive atmosphere of celebrating Hong Kong's return to China had dissipated, dark clouds of the Asian financial crisis came over the city.

International financial "crocodiles" led by American hedge funds attacked Hong Kong. The Hang Seng Index plummeted from more than 16,000 points to 6,000 points in 4 days, and the stock market was on the verge of "collapse"!

The four pillar industries of finance, real estate, trade and tourism are all "unlucky"!

The overall economy has even experienced negative growth that has not been seen in many years!

In January 1997, Soros began to launch an attack on the Southeast Asian financial market that he had coveted for a long time.

Thailand bears the brunt.

In May of the same year, international currency speculators began to sell the Thai baht on a large scale. In early July, the baht fell, and the financial crisis began to sweep across Asia.

In this regard, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa stressed that the shock in the Hong Kong stock market is only a temporary adjustment.

Shen Guofang, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the Hong Kong stock market has experienced such fluctuations in the past, and it is not surprising. The fluctuations in the Hong Kong stock market are matters that the SAR government must handle on its own. The central government will follow the principle of "one country, two systems" and will not directly interfere with the Hong Kong stock market.

and Hong Kong dollar exchange rate.

At this critical moment, the SAR government turned the tide and, with the firm support of the central government, took a series of decisive measures to firmly curb the economic decline: 1. The SAR government broke the so-called "routine" of non-intervention by the government in the free market economy.

More than HK$110 billion of the Exchange Fund was used to enter the market to acquire some local stocks to defend the Hong Kong stock market and the linked exchange rate system.

This move gave Soros, who had repeatedly succeeded, tasted failure for the first time.

By April 2000, only 32 months later, the SAR government had withdrawn the capital from the market and still held stocks of equal value.

2. Increase investment in public construction projects to stimulate economic growth.

The SAR government has reached an agreement with Disney to jointly build Hong Kong Disneyland with a huge investment of HK$22.4 billion. The first phase of the project will be opened in 2005.

It is expected that in the next 40 years, it will bring economic benefits of HK$148 billion and tens of thousands of job opportunities to Hong Kong.

In addition, the Hong Kong government is also actively building and expanding infrastructure such as subways and expressways.

3. Refund taxes and freeze fees to relieve people’s difficulties.

The SAR government refunded 10% of the profits tax, salaries tax and property tax payable from 1997 to 1999, totaling HK$8.5 billion, benefiting 1.25 million taxpayers.

At the same time, it also continued to freeze the fees for services provided by government departments to citizens.

4. Combining alleviation and blockade to promote financial reform.

Sparsity means improving efficiency, stimulating investment and enhancing the charm of the financial center.

Blocking means closing loopholes, strengthening supervision, and preventing excessive speculation.

The unity of opposites between openness and blockage is essentially the unity of opposites between openness and management, which runs through the entire process of Hong Kong's financial reform.

5. Actively increase the proportion of innovative technology and high value-added industries in the economic system.

Launched the Cyberport project with a total investment of HK$14 billion.

The plan will promote Hong Kong to become an international information technology center and help Hong Kong upgrade to high value-added industries.

The unique GEM market was launched, opening up new financing channels for emerging high-tech companies with good growth potential.

Watch until the clouds open and the moon shines brightly.

By the second quarter of 1999, Hong Kong's economy finally ended five consecutive quarters of negative growth and achieved a growth of 1.1%.

A turning point has appeared and Hong Kong is on the road to recovery.

It is worth mentioning that during the most difficult days of Hong Kong, the central government never let go of its helping hand.

The RMB exchange rate remains stable, providing Hong Kong with a strong backing to overcome the financial crisis.

Tourism is the first pillar industry in Hong Kong to "wake up" from the financial crisis. One of the important reasons is that the mainland has relaxed restrictions on tourists visiting Hong Kong and increased the number of tourists visiting Hong Kong.