Hong Kong: The GBA’s ASEAN Growth Driver – Benefits and Challenges
In recent years, global supply chains have been transformed beyond recognition, largely due to the ongoing geopolitical tensions and the substantial tariff increases imposed by the US. In order to keep track of the regional impact of these developments, HKTDC Research and UOB Hong Kong collaborated on a new study in the third quarter of 2025. This follows an earlier joint research project – GBA Supply Chain Diversity: Enhancing Connectivity Among ASEAN, Hong Kong and Mainland China1 – published in 2024. This latest initiative also forms part of an ongoing commitment to continue tracking the sustainable development journey of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) business community and their ASEAN business development. As part of the most recent study, 600 enterprises based in either Hong Kong or one of the five Mainland GBA cities (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Dongguan or Zhongshan) took part in a questionnaire-based survey. To participate, all of the enterprises had to be committed to expanding their ASEAN-related business and to implementing greener trading practices. |
Scale of ASEAN Market and Positive Relationship with China of Paramount Importance
Asked to identify the ASEAN bloc’s three most appealing attributes, GBA enterprises once again opted for market/opportunity as the most positive factor. In all, almost 60% of survey participants agreed that the “sales opportunities in the ASEAN market” are huge, a 35 percentage point increase on the comparable figure for 2024.
Ranked second overall, at 55%, was the “good trade relationship between China and ASEAN” (55%). This marked an increase of 16 percentage points on the 2024 figure and continued the three‑year rise of this particular sentiment. This can be seen as an indication of the wide‑ranging benefits of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area and such economic agreements as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which have played an instrumental role in the decision of many enterprises to target the ASEAN bloc.
In addition, a higher percentage (48% – up 14 percentage points on 2024) of GBA enterprises now regard ASEAN’s continued open investment policies and preferential policies as appealing. At the same time, many ASEAN countries have also worked to continuously improve their investment legislation. As a sign of this, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has noted that more than 90% of ASEAN’s investment policies in ASEAN are favourable to investors, well above the global average of 77%2. This, in part, accounts for why more Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong enterprises have invested directly in ASEAN over recent years.
The survey also showed that businesses within one of the five Chinese Mainland GBA cities (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Dongguan or Zhongshan) and Hong Kong have a common view of the ASEAN bloc’s potential.
Major Challenges: Finding Local Partners, Cultural/Language Barriers, Recruiting
Enterprises generally believe that their main challenge this year is the risk of operational difficulties. In particular, the major obstacle is seen as “difficulty in finding the right local partners” (47%). This is an increase of 24 percentage points from 2024 and marks a continued rise over the last three years. A higher proportion of enterprises also encountered cultural/language barriers (46%), up 23 percentage points from 2024. Furthermore, more enterprises found it difficult to find talent with the required expertise (40%), an increase of 15 percentage points from 2024.
The primary challenges that concerned enterprises last year – the difficulty in finding suitable local service providers and worries over data security – were no longer seen as the most pressing issues in 2025. The current findings also indicated that different industries face, broadly, the same major issues, with most views across Hong Kong and the five Chinese Mainland GBA cities also largely similar.
1 For more details on the report, please refer to Hong Kong Empowers GBA Enterprises for ASEAN Growth Amid Global Trade Challenges
2 ASEAN Investment Report 2024
More relevant articles:
Hong Kong: The GBA’s ASEAN Growth Driver – Delivering Diversification
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Hong Kong: The GBA’s ASEAN Growth Driver – Navigating Global Trade Uncertainties
Hong Kong: The GBA’s ASEAN Growth Driver – Accelerated Success Via Professional Services Support.
Hong Kong: The GBA’s ASEAN Growth Driver – Securing Sustainability
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Original article published in https://research.hktdc.com
