I actually think that it is very likely that Shanghai will surpass us in this regard.
See the new Shanghai free trade zone, and their incredible growth momentum.
I do not mind, I'm a nationalist. The good of the country is more important than the individual city.
On June 29, 2003 , the Commerce Department Deputy Minister An Min, who represented the Central Government in Beijing, signed along with the Hong Kong SAR Financial Secretary Leung Kam Chung, the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement. Six supplementary agreements have been concluded int he years since, which have resulted in smoother cross-border traffic and further integrating the former colony into the Mainland's emerging economy.
These agreements have broadened the terms of entry by Hong Kong service sector companies into mainland markets. It will now be easier for Hong Kong-based travel agencies, banks, securities, law firms, and logistics to set up a more robust presence anywhere in China. Especially between Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Both Shanghai and Hong Kong, in my opinion, benefit from comparatively advantageous locations. Situated ont he southern shore of the mouth of the Yangzi River, Shanghai is within easy reach of the Yangzi Delta hinterland and in closer proximity with industrial cities such as Nanjing, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wuxi and Changzhou. Hong Kong is perched on the South China Sea and straddles the Pearl River Delta. Hong Kong straddles the busiest shipping lanes in the Asia-Pacific region.
One thing that gives Hong Kong the advantage over Shanghai is the fact that Hong Kong SAR has been able to leverage its position under the "One Country Two Systems" policy to bolster its attractiveness to Direct Foreign Investors who seek greater access to the Chinese market but are wary of the vagaries of Chinese corporate law. Hong Kong, with its transparent regulatory regime, is ideal, in fact, Hong Kong economic regulation is even modeled in the West, Japan, South Korea, Singapore.
I believe that over time, as China's corporate law becomes better understood by foreign partners, and as China implements a broad-base regulatory regime fixed on transparency, this will eventually negate the importance of Hong Kong , and allow direct rapport between any of the major cities of the PRC to other global partners. And I think its possible.