Beijing liaison office in Hong Kong ‘has HK$3.4 billion property empire’ in the city: Demosisto report
- Mainland China agency has 757 properties in the city with 130 flats bought since 2014, according to research from pro-democracy group
- Joshua Wong says data shows liaison office’s expansion across city, while lawmaker highlights its need to house staff locally
Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong has a HK$3.4 billion property portfolio in the city, according to research based on 2019 data from pro-democracy activists who said it offered a glimpse into the expansion of the central government’s local operation.
According to the report, about 400 of the residences were bought before the 1997 handover of the city from British to Chinese sovereignty, when the Xinhua News Agency’s Hong Kong base was the de facto representative office of Beijing in the colonial era.
About 180 were snapped up between 1998 and 2014, with another 130 added to the portfolio between 2015 and 2019, the report read.
Revealing their analysis at a press conference, the group said the portfolio was made up of 722 flats, 12 offices, eight commercial sites, 10 entire buildings and 15 car parks. They said they used land and company registries and property-transaction platforms for their research.
They found that nearly 80 per cent of the residential flats were owned by Newman Investment Company Limited, which was set up in 1972 and whose shareholders and board directors include liaison officials.
