The Fraser Institute, a Canadian think tank, released the "World Economic Freedom 19 Annual Report" today (2023th), and Hong Kong lost its top spot for the first time, ranking second in the world, losing to Singapore with 0.01 points.

The Hong Kong government issued a statement in the evening, still describing the report as "continuing to rank among the top in the world", but refuting many of the report's descriptions, especially mentioning the Institute's 2023 Annual Report's comments on the enforcement actions of the Hong Kong National Security Law, which is biased and calls into question the fairness of the annual report's conclusions.

The Fraser Institute, a Canadian think tank, published its 2023 Annual Report on World Economic Freedom, and Hong Kong lost its top spot for the first time. (Profile picture)

Since its launch in 1996, Hong Kong has failed to top the list for the first time

According to the Fraser Institute's World Economic Freedom 2023 Annual Report, Singapore ranked first with an overall score of 8.56, while Hong Kong ranked second with 8.55 points, a difference of 0.01 points. Since the publication of the report in 1996, Hong Kong has ranked first in the world for 26 consecutive years until last year, and this time it has failed to win for the first time.

In its statement, the Hong Kong government mentioned that Hong Kong "continues to rank among the top in the world", and in the five assessment categories of the 2023 Annual Report, Hong Kong continued to rank first in "freedom of international trade" and third in the world in "regulation", and the scores and rankings on "size of government" and "sound money" also improved compared with last year.

A spokesman for the Hong Kong government said that Hong Kong is one of the most open and business-friendly places in the world, bringing together nearly 9,000 companies from the mainland and overseas, which is a testament to Hong Kong's unique institutional advantages under one country, two systems, and Hong Kong is the only economy in the world that combines international advantages with China's advantages.

Hong Kong government approves three descriptions "inconsistent with facts"

Regarding the Fraser Institute's allegation that the mainland has imposed new "major barriers to entry", restricted the employment of foreign labor, and increased the cost of doing business, the Hong Kong government pointed out that it was "inconsistent with the facts" and "completely disagreed with this unsubstantiated statement", and expressed disappointment. The spokesman pointed out that Hong Kong's labour policy has not changed, and under the premise of ensuring priority employment for local workers, the HKSAR Government has set up different schemes for employers to apply for imported labour according to actual needs, so as to fill the skills lacking in the labour market and maintain Hong Kong's competitiveness and development needs.

The Fraser Institute, a Canadian think tank, published its 2023 Annual Report on World Economic Freedom, and Hong Kong lost its top spot for the first time. (Profile picture)

A spokesman for the Hong Kong government pointed out that the argument in the 2023 Annual Report that "mainland military intervention in the rule of law in Hong Kong" is "completely fictitious and contrary to facts", emphasizing that the Hong Kong SAR enjoys a high degree of autonomy under "one country, two systems" and that the rule of law in Hong Kong is not subject to military interference. As for the 2023 Annual Report, which pointed out that "confidence in the independence of the judiciary and the impartiality of Hong Kong's courts has weakened", the spokesman reiterated that Hong Kong's judicial system has always been highly respected by the international community, and the Constitution and the Basic Law provide constitutional guarantees for fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right to equality before the law, and have been consolidated under the rule of law and independent judicial power. The Hong Kong government also stated in a statement that the appointment and removal of HKSAR judges is not influenced by political or other irrelevant factors, and the allegations against the independence and impartiality of the Hong Kong judiciary are groundless.

The Hong Kong government added that the comments in the 2023 Annual Report on the relevant enforcement actions of the Hong Kong National Security Law are biased, which calls into question the fairness of the conclusions of the annual report, and the Hong Kong government will continue to unswervingly and fully implement the Hong Kong National Security Law, and further improve the SAR's legal system and enforcement mechanism for safeguarding national security.

2023 Economic Freedom Index: Taiwan ranked 4th in the world and 2nd in the Asia-Pacific region, the best result in history, Singapore ranked 3st in the Global Economic Freedom Index for three consecutive years, and the United States dropped 1 places