Hong Kong as a hub for F&B trading with China

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the important role of Hong Kong as a gateway to enter the Chinese market. This country has been a British colony for 155 years, until 1997 when it was returned to China. Nevertheless, nowadays Hong Kong is still influenced by the English Common Law and still adopts the “one country, two systems policy” which led the country to be more internationalized and industrialized. As a result of this situation, its rapid commercial growth, the use of the English language, of international methods in business, its efficient bureaucracy and the adoption of an environment that sustains innovation made Hong Kong the freest economy in the world and an important destination for western migrants and foreign investors. The first chapter of this thesis mainly focuses on the different distribution channels that should be used to set up a company in Hong Kong. Then, this study describes the problems that can be found when exporting food to China, as the required regulations are sometimes different from the ones established in Hong Kong. In the second chapter, the paper examines the main legal issues that an investor may find when exporting food to China, such as labelling, licensing and custom duties. Finally, the third and last part will briefly introduce a case study about MetaBev Hong Kong, an international brand management, importation, and distribution company, specialized in high quality food & beverage products in the Asia Pacific region. Furthermore, it will be analyzed the company’s methods and the main channels used to create a subsidiary in China and to export F&B products there.