Greater Bay Area Industry Development Index Released: Hong Kong's Overall Growth Reaches 8.9%, Ranking First in the Greater Bay Area

On October 22, the Our Hong Kong Foundation and Dah Sing Bank Limited jointly released the "Our Hong Kong Foundation - Dah Sing Bank Greater Bay Area Industry Development Index 2026." The Index continues this year to track the development performance of 11 cities in the Greater Bay Area across six key industries, including financial services, innovation and technology, culture, sports and tourism, trade and logistics, manufacturing, and construction and real estate. For the third consecutive year, the Index conducted an in-depth analysis of more than 120 indicators and over 1,300 data points, and interviewed more than 3,000 Greater Bay Area enterprises in the region. In 2026, the overall growth rate of the Greater Bay Area across the six key industries combined was +5.1% (compared with +7.1% last year), with Hong Kong recording comprehensive growth of 8.9%, the highest increase in the Greater Bay Area. In financial services, Hong Kong led by a wide margin in multiple sub-categories such as "macro environment," "investment products," and "policy support," ranking first with a total score of 87.3. The initial public offering (IPO) market remained active, with funds raised in the first half of the year exceeding HK$210 billion, up 92% year on year. In trade and logistics, Hong Kong continued to leverage its advantages as an international trade and aviation hub, ranking first with a total score of 81.9. With the three-runway system at the airport coming into operation, together with the gradual improvement of regulations on autonomous driving and the low-altitude economy, Hong Kong's position as an international logistics hub is expected to rise further. In culture, sports and tourism, boosted by the "National Games effect" of the 15th National Games, Hong Kong's sports and tourism consumption performed strongly, ranking first with a total score of 78.7. The report noted that in construction and real estate, Guangzhou topped the list with 77.0 points, while Hong Kong rose against the trend by 11.9% amid an overall decline in the region, posting the highest increase in the Greater Bay Area. Benefiting from 280,000 talents settling in Hong Kong through various talent schemes, strong housing demand drove both prices and transaction volumes in Hong Kong's residential market higher, while the office leasing market also recovered as institutions such as family offices and asset management companies expanded. In innovation and technology and manufacturing, Shenzhen continued to rank first in the innovation and technology industry (82.5 points) and manufacturing (87.8 points), with Guangzhou ranking second in both. In innovation and technology, Shenzhen's R&D spending as a share of GDP rose to 6.7%, the highest among major cities nationwide, with leading enterprises such as Huawei, ZTE, and OPPO driving efficient commercialization of results; Dongguan posted the highest growth, with the latest total R&D investment of its listed enterprises recording an increase of more than 10%. In manufacturing, surging demand in the AI hardware industry chain drove significant revenue growth for advanced manufacturing enterprises in Dongguan, Huizhou, and Shenzhen.