The return of China’s big spenders is buying up Hong Kong businesses from finance to fortune telling.

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“Along with the increase in the number of face-to-face meetings and transactions with our relationship managers, account opening hotline inquiries have also doubled over the same period,” she said.

According to the banking giant, 60 percent of mainlanders who plan to visit Hong Kong after the opening of the border have identified a need for private banking and wealth management services as their main reason for travel.

Sally Liu, deputy general manager of Bank of China’s private banking and wealth management division in Hong Kong, said that since the reopening of the border, the average daily number of cross-border customers has reached 80 percent since the outbreak.

According to feng shui master Yuen Yu Fu, the re-opening of the city's entire border was good for business.  Photo: Dixon Lee

According to feng shui master Yuen Yu Fu, the re-opening of the city’s entire border was good for business. Photo: Dixon Lee

Standard Chartered reports that customers north of the border are more interested in insurance products. The bank said: “In February, new business generated by bank customers buying the bank’s securities … has already jumped to pre-Covid levels.”

Property companies also reported increased business activity. Centaline Property Agency founder Shih Wing-ching reported a 10 percent gain in February, the first sales volume in 10 months to rise 40 percent on the back of a 40 percent increase in sales from a month earlier due to a rise in the number of prime land buyers. Investor confidence.

“We’re all very happy because it’s not easy to make a profit these days,” Shih told the Post. “In addition to the influx of mainland customers, the re-opening of the city’s borders has boosted investor confidence.”

Transactions in the property market rose 34.8 percent month-on-month to 5,969 deals, the highest level since June 2022, according to data released by Sentinel.

Total transaction value rose 35.1 percent month-on-month to HK$43.9 billion ($5.59 billion), the highest since August 2022.

Shih said that Mainland customers account for 10 percent of home buyers in the city, compared to only 1 to 2 percent last year, most of the purchase properties are HK $ 20 million or more.

“There were cases of people who bought property for HK$50 million or HK$100 million,” he said.

“Right now, it’s a short-term recovery from the rising momentum. But it needs sustained economic growth to really grow the property market and increase the spending power of prospective home buyers.

Feng Shui master Yuen Yu Fu said his clients, Henderson Land Development tycoon Lee Shau Ke and former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos, have seen their business increase by more than 50 percent. .

Yuen charges tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars to more than HK$1 million, depending on the type and duration of the service.

“Before the epidemic, I had about eight wealthy mainland clients every month seeking wealth or feng shui advice, but during the epidemic, that dropped to zero,” he said. “When the border reopens, they book or come to me to seek my services again.”

UN said most mainland customers are happy to pay more to show their appreciation.

“There have been times when I helped mainland clients conduct feng shui analysis of their housing projects on the mainland, and they gave me housing as a reward for my services,” he said.

A spokeswoman for medical services provider Trinity Medical Center said the business expects profits to increase over the next few months due to increased inquiries and bookings from its core customers.

“Although our business has increased, it has not yet reached the level before the outbreak,” he said.

The spokesperson said that since they have more confidence in Hong Kong’s medical services, Mainland patients used the center mostly for health checks and vaccinations, which can cost up to ten thousand dollars.

“We have received a lot of inquiries and appointments from the main customers because the Commerneti bivalent vaccine can be paid for itself,” he said, referring to BioEntech Jabs.

Amy Hui Wai Fung, chairwoman of the Beauty and Fitness Professionals General Union, said business in the sector had grown to 70 percent of what it was before the pandemic.

“Mainlanders like to come to Hong Kong for beauty treatments because we have hi-tech beauty equipment to offer customers a variety of beauty treatments,” she said.

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