Xinhua News Agency, Hong Kong, January 9th - Title: A Portrait of Central: Seeing the Diverse Nature of Hong Kong in the Financial City
The subway and trams intertwine, Cantonese and English resound together, and the aroma of coffee mingles with the steam of dim sum... Central on Hong Kong Island is not only a portrait of Hong Kong as a whole, but also a self-portrait of a city's internationalization and diversity.
From financial professionals to tea restaurant owners, from tech entrepreneurs to bartenders, in Central, internationalization and diversity are not abstract slogans, but concrete manifestations of how people from different professions and cultural backgrounds coexist, collaborate, compete, and express themselves in the same space.
"Central Time" in Global Capital Flows
At 7:30 a.m., the lights in the office buildings in Central began to come on one after another, and the electronic screens of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange flickered incessantly.
Financial professionals were among the first to "go online" in this city. Their time is not entirely in Hong Kong, but rather fragmented by multiple time zones, including London, New York, Singapore, and Shanghai.
“With many multinational organizations setting up regional headquarters in Central, collaboration with international teams is an important part of daily work. Communication is direct and pragmatic, emphasizing efficiency and boundaries of responsibility, and we also value a ‘rules-first’ work culture.” Mr. Wei, who works at WeBank Technology Co., Ltd., pointed out one of the most prominent characteristics of financial professionals in Central: their sensitivity to “rules.”
Hong Kong's financial policy in 2025 will focus on "consolidating its status as an international financial center," promoting research on digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and central bank digital currencies, as well as establishing gold and commodity markets, promoting tokenization, and supporting the listing of biotechnology companies to address global opportunities and challenges.
“This brings together major financial institutions, regulatory stakeholders, and innovative companies. We can communicate with regulators more efficiently and gain a more direct understanding of the real needs of institutional clients,” said Bao Tianchen, Head of Capital Markets and Strategy at CertiK.
“Central’s most irreplaceable international characteristic is that it can simultaneously accommodate the rules and business needs of different markets,” Bao Tianchen described his impression of Central.
This is why the Hong Kong Stock Exchange saw a flurry of IPOs in 2025, with investors jokingly saying that "there weren't enough gongs to ring for all the listings." Hong Kong is projected to be the world's largest market for IPOs in 2025, demonstrating the vitality and resilience of its financial market and highlighting its status as an international financial center.
Central's internationalization is reflected not only in cross-border capital flows, but also in the collaboration and understanding between people.
Bao Tianchen believes that while multilingualism and multicultural backgrounds do bring certain communication costs, in the long run, these differences primarily improve the quality of decision-making. "Because members from different backgrounds will examine the same product or risk point from different dimensions such as technology, compliance, and law."
Mr. Wei believes that Central’s “international atmosphere” is not only reflected in its multinational staff or foreign language environment, but also more deeply in its daily operations. The open market and transparent rules enable practitioners from different cultural backgrounds to collaborate efficiently within the same framework.
Everyday Coexistence in a Tea Restaurant
Amidst the towering office buildings of Central, you can always find tea restaurants that have been operating for many years. They may not have large storefronts, but they have a steady stream of customers, and for many office workers, tea restaurants are the anchor point of their daily routine.
Tsui Wah Restaurant, located on Wellington Street in Central, has been operating in Central since the 1990s. Speaking of its earliest customers, the person in charge of Tsui Wah Restaurant said: "(They) were office workers in Hong Kong's prime locations, as well as young people and tourists who came to Lan Kwai Fong in the evening. They all wanted to find a comfortable place in the city to enjoy authentic local cuisine."
According to the owner of a tea restaurant in Central, internationalization is not about grand narratives, but about "serving people with different accents every day." Ms. Fen, the manager of the Tsui Wah Restaurant in Central, told reporters that Central is not only a financial center, but also a pilgrimage site for tourists.
Hong Kong is expected to see a strong recovery in its tourism industry in 2025, with a total of 49.9 million visitors, of which 74% are from mainland China and 26% are from overseas.
Ms. Fen said that foreign guests are very receptive to local traditional culture, but compared to the past, they now pursue a better dining experience, hoping to enjoy traditional Hong Kong delicacies such as char siu, curry beef brisket, and Hong Kong-style milk tea in a cleaner and more comfortable environment. "Now our restaurant is both beautiful and comfortable, which is why our guests like it even more."
Many long-established tea restaurants, while not typical representatives of "internationalization," are precisely the key pillars that enable Hong Kong's diverse society to function and witnesses to Hong Kong's economic transformation. This long-accumulated resilience makes tea restaurants a presence in Central with a profound "historical depth."
Alice Frank, a French music teacher dining at Tsui Wah Restaurant, has been working in Hong Kong for nearly a year. She said, “I love Hong Kong because it’s vibrant and very open; I love Hong Kong because it’s close to the mainland, and I often go there. It’s also very convenient to travel to other parts of Asia from Hong Kong.”
When asked about her top recommendation, she swirled the cup in her hand and smiled, saying, "Hong Kong-style milk tea."
Cultural Translators in the Night
As night falls and the lights come on, bars become new social hubs, and bartenders become the protagonists of the night's narrative.
According to bartenders, Central's appeal lies not only in its efficiency and resources, but also in its openness and inclusiveness. "We hope to make people in this industry and field feel relaxed and comfortable, so that they are willing to come in, chat with people they don't know, and grow together through interaction," said Shrestha Anugi.
Anuji and Gyalai Suman, from Nepal, run a bar in Central. When asked about the bar's location, Anuji looked out the window and smiled, saying, "The view here is great."
The area in front of the bar is also a highly diverse space for interaction.
“Bars and clubs are places where you can meet people from different countries and backgrounds. When tourists come to a country, they will also go into bars to meet different people,” Anuji said.
Hong Kong boasts a vibrant array of major conferences and events in 2025, including Art Basel, the Asian Financial Forum, the National Games, and concerts at the Kai Tak Sports Park. Financial professionals, entrepreneurs, tourists, and local artists will converge here. Suman noted that the number of visitors increases during peak seasons for arts events and financial conferences.
When mixing drinks, Suman tries to incorporate local elements, such as tea. Suman says, "I try to be more creative, such as adding ingredients like dandelion tea or mulberry to the drinks. Strictly speaking, they are not tea in the traditional sense, but they can be extracted and used just like tea."
This kind of creation is an international expression at the cultural level: it is both geared towards global aesthetics and rooted in local experience.
For Hong Kong, diversification and internationalization have never been a fleeting trend, but a continuous state. The cityscape of Central is not just a scene, but a spirit: to bring the world into Hong Kong and to let Hong Kong go out into the world.
Video: Xu Shumin, Liu Zhanwei, Lin Yingnan
Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Yingnan
