In July, Citigroup's Hong Kong business incorporated itself as a Hong Kong bank so that it could do business in China. At face value, that was not a big step but the bank's move encapsulates the main themes governing banks in the Special Administrative Region. Although profitable and still full of potential, the Hong Kong story is inseparable from the mainland China story. And the Chinese authorities, intent on maintaining Hong Kong as a showpiece, have made concessions that are helpful to the banks incorporated there.
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