Beijing nudging HK's tycoons to do more. Will they heed the call?

Relationship between the central govt and city's business elites is evolving

- Magdalene Fung

HONG KONG - It took a nudge from Beijing to prod Hong Kong's tycoons to action.

Hong Kong's top property developers on Nov 29 pledged their support for the Northern Metropolis mega project to build a 30,000ha business, tech and housing hub along the city's border with mainland China.

Potential investors had previously expressed uncertainty about the ambitious project for the lack of concrete details on how exactly the authorities planned to build up a complete ecosystem from scratch in an area the combined size of Wan Chai, Admiralty, Central and Sheung Wan, or nearly half the size of Singapore.

But they eventually acted in unison to back the mega project - the same month that Beijing's point man on Hong Kong affairs, Mr Xia Baolong, urged Hong Kong's real estate tycoons to "shoulder their responsibilities" and "take concrete actions" to promote the city's economic development.

Major local developers including Henderson Land Development, Sun Hung Kai Properties and New World Development signed an agreement to support and participate in the government-led project.

The episode reflects the evolving relationship between the central government and Hong Kong's community of business elites. Where once the city's magnates - many of whom built their empires in the property sector - were at liberty to conduct business purely on the profit motive, they now increasingly also have to take into consideration the top-down direction from Beijing.

And more such messages should be expected as Beijing seeks to exert tighter control over Hong Kong and help to revive its flagging economy amid low investor confidence.

Ahead of Mr Xia's call to action in early November, Chinese President Xi Jinping had in August also made the rare move of engaging with Hong Kong's business elite. In a letter to some of the city's magnates of Ningbo ancestry, Mr Xi exhorted them to leverage their strengths to play a bigger role in the country's development.