Yim Fung, chairman and CEO of Guotai Junan International Holdings Ltd in Hong Kong, said since the collapse of the city's largest brokerage, Peregrine Investment Holdings Ltd, in early 1998, the China Securities Regulatory Commission - the mainland's securities watchdog - has encouraged financial enterprises to innovate and prompted them to "go out" by 2006. As a result, the number of mainland-owned brokerages in Hong Kong has surpassed their local and foreign peers in recent years.

Hong Kong's stock market has overcome storms, such as the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the burst of the internet bubble in 2000, the 2003 SARS outbreak and the 2008 global financial crash.

On June 27, 1997, the last trading day before the handover, the Hang Seng Index - the barometer for the local market's performance - stood at 15,196 points. On Dec 29, 2006, it passed the 20,000-point barrier for the first time, before hitting a record 31,958 on Oct 30, 2007.

Cheah Cheng Hye, co-chief investment officer of asset management company Value Partners, said Hong Kong-listed stocks are still relatively cheap because they trade at about 14 times earnings capacity.

Moreover, there's an average discount of 25 percent for mainland companies with dual listings, and Hong Kong listed shares are a good buy compared with those listed on the mainland.

"In the long term, Hong Kong's capital could become very exciting thanks to the potential offered by Belt and Road projects, and the development of the Pearl River Delta economic zone," he said.

tingduan@chinadailyhk.com