I came across this Hong Kong apartment listing earlier in the week. Sai Ying Pun is the neighborhood.

HK$9.8 million = C$1,554,833 based on today’s exchange rate (1 CAD = 6.30293 HKD).

At 432 square feet (net), that’s C$3,599 psf. But I have also been told that new buildings here could easily fetch C$5,000 psf and probably much more.

There’s certainly a tremendous amount of wealth in Hong Kong. However, the topic of discussion right now is the new money being generated in mainland China.

I am curious what all of this could mean for Hong Kong, it’s place within the PRC, and for real estate long-term.

Hong Kong’s Basic Law stipulates that the region shall maintain a capitalist system and that its current way of life shall be preserved outside of the PRC. 

But that constitutional document is set to expire in 2047 – fifty years after the handover from the British. And one would assume that China would favor more, rather than less, integration. 

Already the Cantonese language – the official language of HK along with English – seems to be getting diluted in favor of the “speech of the officials.”

So what will Hong Kong look like by the middle of the 21st century? Will it simply become a “second city” to Beijing and Shanghai?

Place your bets in the comments below. Or call Miss Winnie.

The 2015 edition of The Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) was just released last month. It is often used as one of the sources for ranking financial centres.

The index – which is now in its 18th edition – is created using two main ingredients. The first is an analysis of 5 broad areas of competitiveness: 1) business environment, 2) financial sector development, 3) infrastructure, 4) human capital, and 5) reputational & general factors. And the second is an online survey given to financial services professionals. The 2015 edition includes responses from 3,194 professionals.

Below are the top 25 financial centres in the world according to the GFCI (the full list has 84 cities).

Here are a couple of things to note from this year’s index: 

London has overtaken New York for the top spot – but both remain more or less at parity if you dig into the numbers. 

Dublin is performing particularly well in Western Europe.

The leading centre in Eastern Europe is Warsaw (38th), with Istanbul just behind it.

Toronto is now second in North America, only to New York.

Sao Paulo remains the top Latin American centre.

And, Los Angeles (49th) and Liechtenstein (60th) join as new entrants this year.

If you’d like to see the full report and ranking, click here.