HONG KONG, June 17 (Xinhua) -- The government of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Thursday welcomed a renowned world report that ranked Hong Kong seventh in terms of annual competitiveness of world economies, saying the report has continued to recognize Hong Kong's strengths in various aspects.
The World Competitiveness Yearbook 2021 published by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) this year continued to put Hong Kong in the first place in terms of "government efficiency," one of the four competitiveness factors, although its rankings in "economic performance," "business efficiency" and "infrastructure" were slightly lower.
As to the sub-factors, Hong Kong continued to top the list in "business legislation" and its rankings in "international trade," "tax policy," "finance" and "management practices" remained in the top three positions.
The global financial hub was ranked as the fifth competitive economy in the IMD report last year.
A HKSAR government spokesperson welcomes the latest report and said Hong Kong's institutional strengths, including the rule of law, free trade and investment and a favorable business environment, have remained unscathed after unprecedented challenges over the past years.
The HKSAR government is committed to enhancing Hong Kong's status as an international financial, transportation and trade center and developing Hong Kong into an international innovation and technology hub, an international aviation hub and a green city, the spokesperson said.
Looking forward, the spokesperson said Hong Kong will continue to play its unique roles as a gateway, a springboard and an intermediary under "one country, two systems" and seize the opportunities arising from national development. Enditem