“We’re back!” Hong Kong’s financial secretary Paul Chan told a conference intended to show the Chinese city was open for business following the lifting of coronavirus measures that undermined its status as a hub for international finance.
But Chan himself was not back at all. After catching Covid-19 on a work trip, he was stranded in the Middle East owing to Hong Kong’s remaining pandemic restrictions and appeared at the fintech gathering on Monday via a video link.
The incident encapsulated the challenge Hong Kong faces in persuading global investors to return to a territory that imposed weeks-long quarantines and unpredictable flight bans through much of the pandemic.