Hong Kong: Still the Most Expensive City for Expat Accommodation

BusinessTianjin

Hong Kong: Still the Most Expensive City for Expat Accommodation

Hong Kong retains position as most expensive accommodation for overseas workers, despite a drop of over 5% in rental costs from last year.

Hong Kong has been named the most expensive location in the world for expat accommodation for a fourth year in a row, but still saw rental costs drop considerably due to the effects of Covid-19. This was one of the findings of the latest research published by ECA International, the world's leading provider of knowledge, information and software for the management and assignment of employees around the world.

The average monthly rental price for an unfurnished, mid-market, three-bedroom apartment in areas commonly inhabited by international executives in Hong Kong was USD 10 769, a drop of 5.95% compared to 2020.

ECA International has been conducting research into accommodation costs for international executives for more than 20 years to help companies provide the right housing options as part of the overall compensation package for mobile employees. The research compares rental costs in accommodation in areas typically inhabited by expatriate staff in over 360 locations worldwide.

香港连续四年为“全球外派雇员住房租金最贵城市”

全球人力资源顾问机构 ECA International就全球外派雇员住房租金方面发布了最新的调查，这次的排名香港倒是丝毫没有含糊，不仅拿下“全球外派雇员租金最贵城市”称号，而且已是连续四年蝉联…

果不其然，一说到房租租金，香港是不输任何城市了。

ECA International亚洲区域总监关礼廉表示，由于新冠疫情在过去至今的影响，令全球外派员工通常入住的高档地区的住房需求减弱，因此香港今年的住房租金罕见地录得下调。例如，国际行政级别管理人员在本港的常住地区中，一间无家具中档三房寓所的平均月租约为10769美元，相比2020年，已经下跌了近6%。

HSBC relocates top leadership from London to Hong Kong

HSBC will move four of its most senior executives to Hong Kong later this year, as the London-based bank focuses more attention on fast-growing markets in Asia.

CEO Noel Quinn said in an internal memo on Wednesday that Barry O'Byrne, head of global commercial banking, Greg Guyett, co-head of global banking and markets, and Nuno Matos, head of wealth and personal banking will relocate to Hong Kong in the second half of the year. They will be joined by Nicolas Moreau, the head of global asset management.

Those businesses account for virtually all of HSBC's revenues.

HSBC (HSBC) derives the vast majority of its profit from Asia, where it was founded 156 years ago as the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited. In February, it outlined plans to increase investment in the region by about $6 billion, highlighting China, southeast Asia, and India as the drivers of its future growth.

The pivot to Asia is part of a strategic overhaul HSBC unveiled last year, which aims to redeploy more than $100 billion in capital to the region and slash 35,000 jobs.

HSBC is under pressure to accelerate its restructuring plans — which also involve shrinking its investment bank and selling its US retail branch network — after pre-tax profit slumped 45% to $12.1 billion last year amid the coronavirus pandemic and ultra-low interest rates.

汇丰银行据悉将该行最高领导团队从伦敦迁至中国香港

4月14日，汇丰银行（HSBC）已经确定了一项重要的人事调动安排，预计将于今年下半年把四名高管从总部伦敦调往香港。报道认为，这表明汇丰已开始加速推进其向亚洲转移的战略。

报道援引一份汇丰内部备忘录称，此次调动将涉及汇丰全球银行和市场联合主管格雷格•盖特（Greg Guyett）、财富和个人银行业务主管努诺•马托斯（Nuno Matos）、全球商业银行联合主管巴瑞•奥伯恩（Barry O'Byrne），及资产管理主管尼古拉斯•莫罗（Nicolas Moreau）这四名高管。

这一决定意味着，占据汇丰近乎全部营收的几大业务的管理者都将集中到香港。“这些举措显示了亚太地区的重要性，亚太对我们未来的发展至关重要。我们全球战略的一个重要组成部分就是把更多的领导人才放在亚洲。”备忘录写道。

这项人事调动是汇丰战略调整的一部分。汇丰首席执行官祈耀年（Noel Quinn）于2月宣布了一项调整汇丰业务的计划，其中就包括把业务及领导层转移到亚洲，并对欧洲和美国表现不佳的业务实施进一步裁员。

New pollution problem from New Energy Vehicles

As the amount of waste batteries from new-energy vehicles has reached nearly 200,000 tons in China, experts are warning of environmental pollution and safety issues as large numbers of used power batteries are recycled and processed without any regulation.

The waste power batteries from new-energy cars in China have reached nearly 200,000 tons as of 2020, and the number is expected to reach 750,000 in 2025.

Zhong Shi, an automotive industry analyst said that after an unregulated battery-recycling workshop buys used batteries, “they tend to carry out a rather simple recycling process, discarding useless materials such as electrolyte at will, which could cause serious soil pollution.”

Zhang Zheming, an associate researcher from the Shenzhen Automotive Research Institute, told Xinhua that due to the lack of supervision and standard operation during the recycling process, there might be risks of explosion when disassembling the batteries.

约20万吨新能源汽车电池退役如何避免“爆发式污染”

新能源汽车正成为炙手可热的“香饽饽”。2020年新能源汽车销售136万辆，今年1季度更是同比增长2.8倍、销量达51.5万辆。相比销售数据，投资市场更加火热，除了三大造车新势力市值高企，今年以来百度、小米等先后宣布“入圈”新能源汽车。

作为新能源汽车产业的重要一环，退役电池回收暗藏风险。业内人士指出，到2020年我国动力电池累计退役量约20万吨，其中大量流入小作坊等非正规渠道，带来安全和环境隐患。如何避免新能源汽车“爆发式增长”带来“爆发式污染”，值得警惕。

#20万吨退役电池大量流入黑市#引发网友热议。许多网友对新能源汽车电池报废问题以及企业造车现象发表看法。

最高赞网友表示：“谁制造谁回收，从源头严格治理，就像治理污水乱排一样！发现问题严罚！”另一位网友认为，国家应该出台政策对此现象进行管理，不然会污染环境。

Business Tianjin MAGAZINE
2021 April issue