Hong Kong Gradually Lags behind in the Reshuffle of the Four Asian Dragons
The COVID-19 has reshuffled the ranks of the “Four Asian Dragons”. Hong Kong, which once ranked the first of the four economies of the "Four Asian Dragons" (South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore), has gradually fallen behind. During the pandemic, Hong Kong and Singapore, which are known for their finance, export and tourism, underperformed significantly, while Taiwan and South Korea saw their stock and foreign exchange rates soar, fully reflecting the expectation of international funds. South Korea and Taiwan use technology as their core competitiveness. Samsung and TSMC have global influence and can benefit from global economic and trade wars. However, Singapore and Hong Kong are still propped up by swashbuckling real estate. Shares of Samsung rose 17.84% in November on expectations of a recovery in DRAM memory prices, lifting the company's market value to about US$394.3 billion, making it the world's 14th largest company by market value. TSMC also did well, with a market value of about US$459.1 billion, making it the 12th largest company in the world. From the perspective of national and regional stock markets, South Korea rose 24.29% during this year, while Taiwan's stock market also breach the record, rising as high as 14, 149 points on the 6th and up 17.8% during the year. Both Singapore and Hong Kong are international financial centers, but the Hang Seng index and Singapore's Straits Times index are still down 4.8% and 11.88% respectively during the year. In currency terms, the South Korean Won has gained 6.86% against the dollar this year. The New Taiwan dollar has risen 5.81% against the U.S. dollar, taking it to a 23-year high this year and the strongest in Asia. The Singapore dollar also rose 1% against the U.S. dollar. But the Hong Kong dollar was little changed by its peg to the US dollar. At present, Hong Kong is losing competitiveness in the technology war due to the lack of leading technology companies and is gradually lagging behind the other three "small dragons".