For Hong Kong businesses from tourist hotels to high finance, China is both opportunity and threat. Insurers Prudential and AIA have recently felt the rough side of that.
China, after all, is an important source of funds and fees. So investors were rattled earlier this month by reports that Beijing had begun levying mainland income tax on the returns from offshore savings-like insurance products sold to Chinese customers. In May, new rules making it harder for mainland customers to open offshore accounts had pushed shares in banks and insurers down as much as 15 per cent.