Mr. Li, who runs a Shopify store, just had lunch with his bank account manager last Friday.

As soon as he arrived at the office on Monday, he called his assistant over and said:“Hurry up and set me up with a secretarial service—I need to register another Hong Kong company.”

The assistant paused for a moment. Wasn't the company's Hong Kong entity just registered at the beginning of the year?

Mr. Li handed me his phone; the screen displayed a news article dated July 17—the Hong Kong Companies Registry had just released its statistics for the first half of 2026.

It says:In the first half of the year, a total of 122,481 new local companies were registered and 122,481 companies relocated their registered offices; as of the end of June, the total number of registered companies stood at 1,609,720—another all-time high.

This marks the third consecutive year that the number of company registrations in Hong Kong has set a new record.

Why is the market still voting with its feet? What new changes have actually taken place regarding company registration in Hong Kong for 2026? Today, we’ll explain it all clearly.

Let’s start by presenting this set of data, because it’s not just some media outlet’s claim, but ratherOfficial Announcement from the Hong Kong Companies Registry.

On July 17, 2026, the Registry released statistics for the first half of 2026, with five key indicators all reaching record highs—

First, 122,481 new companies were registered in the past six months.The combined total of local companies and those that have relocated their registered offices has reached a new high compared to the same period last year.

Second, the total number of registered businesses is 1,609,700.As of the end of June, the total number of local companies and companies that have relocated their registered offices under the Companies Ordinance reached 1,609,720, a record high.

Third, 903 new non-Hong Kong companies were established in the first half of the year.As of the end of June, the total number of registered non-Hong Kong companies stood at 16,014, also a record high.

Fourth, 1.727 million documents were delivered over the past six months.In the first half of the year, a total of 1,727,449 documents were filed with the Registry, meaning that, on average, 287,000 business documents from Hong Kong companies were filed with the government each month.

Fifth, there were 2,586,000 online record searches.In the first half of the year, the number of document image searches conducted through electronic services reached 2,586,117, which is equivalent to 14,000 business registration searches per day.

When you look at these five data points together, they all point to the same thing:The Hong Kong corporate system is being used more frequently by an increasing number of companies.

It’s not just the registration process itself—data related to routine share transfers, mortgage registrations, annual filings, and certificate searches is also on the rise.

For a company considering whether to set up a Hong Kong company,These figures speak for themselves: your peers are already voting with their feet.

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Such a sharp rise is no coincidence.

When we compare the data from the first half of the year with that from the past two years, we can see that three underlying factors are at play.

First Logic:The channel for repatriating cross-border assets has been established.

In the past, many companies expanding overseas used offshore jurisdictions such as the British Virgin Islands (BVI), the Cayman Islands, and the Seychelles to hold their overseas operations and funds, because registration was quick and confidentiality was strong.

However, since the beginning of 2024, with the expansion of CRS information exchange, the tightening of the Economic Substance Act, and banks’ increasingly stringent due diligence on offshore accounts—The ”hidden” advantages of offshore structures are disappearing.

Cross-border e-commerce sellers, family offices, and corporate structuring teams of publicly traded companies are all beginning to relocate to Hong Kong, as the city offers the advantages of a common law system, low tax rates (8.251% on the first 2 million HKD in profits), free movement of capital, and coverage under 57 tax treaties.

The second line of reasoning:The compliance costs resulting from the new regulations have reshaped the market structure.

Starting in 2026, Hong Kong companies must appoint a company secretary, maintain a compliant registered address, prepare an annual audit report, and use their Business Registration Number (BRN) as their unique identifier.

These new regulations have forced ”zero-barrier” small, cottage-industry-style companies out of the market.

Companies willing to invest in compliance are actually more likely to choose Hong Kong, because the more robust the compliance ecosystem is, the higher Hong Kong’s ”brand” premium becomes.

The Third Logic:The registration transfer system has opened up the ”existing market.”

On May 23, 2025, the "Regulations on the Relocation of Corporate Registration" officially took effect.

In the past, when converting a Cayman Islands or BVI company into a Hong Kong entity,The original company must first be liquidated before it can be re-registered in Hong Kong.... The process takes 1–2 years, and legal fees can easily run into the millions of Hong Kong dollars.

After the registration transfer system was implemented,The original company ”relocated” directly to Hong Kong, retaining its legal entity status...seamless integration of business contracts, banking relationships, and intellectual property.

For existing offshore companies, this is the most immediate opportunity to ”change venues” in 2026.

The registration transfer system is the new policy most worth discussing in 2026.

As of the end of June 2026, the Registry had received a total of70 applications for registration transferwhich42 companies have successfully completed their registration transfers—including two insurance companies and one publicly traded company.

The original places of registration for these companies includeBritish Virgin Islands, Luxembourg, Cayman Islands, Bermudaand other places.

Why these four places?

This is because these are the four traditional hubs where offshore companies have been registered in large numbers over the past two or three decades. Their tax advantages are fading, and international compliance costs are rising,In contrast, Hong Kong’s common law system, low tax rates, 57 tax treaties, and its integration with the mainland stand out all the more.

Huang Dasheng, President of the Hong Kong SME Economic and Trade Promotion Association, pointed out: As international regulations become stricter, the tax advantages and flexibility of traditional offshore jurisdictions continue to diminish,This has instead made Hong Kong’s traditional strengths—such as its common-law legal system, simple and low-tax regime, and high degree of business freedom—even more prominent, greatly enhancing its competitiveness.

However, he also pointed out a noteworthy phenomenon:Currently, successful cases of company relocation are primarily concentrated in the traditional financial sector, and there is still room for improvement in marketing and promotion efforts targeting companies in emerging industries in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the United States.

This means that the policy on changing the registered address affects manyCompanies with a genuine needThat said,There is still a significant information gap....not many people know about it yet.

If your company is facing—

It is becoming increasingly difficult to open bank accounts for entities in the BVI and the Cayman Islands; offshore account information has become more transparent following the implementation of the CRS automatic exchange of information; cross-border e-commerce platforms are requiring greater transparency regarding entity ownership to ensure tax compliance; and holding structures need to be adjusted prior to an IPO—

The registration transfer system is currently in its window period.

Before this set of data was released on July 17, “registration transfer” was a policy tool known only to a few; now, it has been widely recognized by regulators and market institutions.

Based on the statistics from July 17, combined with our practical experience over the past year in assisting clients with company registrations and relocations, there are three types of businesses that should prioritize establishing a Hong Kong company in 2026.

Category 1: Cross-border e-commerce sellers, particularly those operating across multiple platforms such as Amazon, TikTok Shop, Shopee, and Lazada.

With the EU’s new tariff policy for small packages, which took effect on July 1, combined with the new AI content labeling regulations effective August 2, 2026, and the next phase of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) effective August 12, compliance costs in the European market are rising structurally.

The advantages of basing the organization in Hong Kong are:

First, Hong Kong companies can set up payment processing tools such as Stripe, Airwallex, and Lianlian,Multi-currency settlement with no foreign exchange controls.;

Second, there is no value-added tax in Hong Kong, whereas when clearing imports through EU customs,Paying VAT in Advance Using a Hong Kong Company’s IOSS Tax ID Number, which can speed up customs clearance;

Third, Hong Kong and the Mainland have a CEPA agreement in place, under which certain goods are eligible forZero TariffEnter the mainland market;

Fourth,BRN as a Unique Identifier... platform reviews, opening bank accounts, and filing tax returns are all much smoother.

Category 2: Enterprises engaged in trade in services and the global expansion of technology.

Hong Kong’s low tax rates (8.25% on the first 2 million HKD of profits, and 16.5% on amounts exceeding that) are favorable for corporate income tax, andPrinciple of territorial source taxationFor companies engaged exclusively in offshore business, overseas profits are eligible for an offshore exemption, resulting in a tax burden that is close to zero.

In accordance with the "Operational Guidelines on Foreign Exchange Control" issued by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in January 2026,No exchange controls, It allows for the free receipt, payment, and exchange of currencies, making it ideal for collecting payments for trade in services, SaaS subscription fees, and overseas service fees.

Category 3: Founding teams planning to establish a red chip or VIE structure.

If a company plans to list overseas in the next 3–5 years, Hong Kong is a ”must-stop” for mainland companies looking to expand abroad.

Data from July 17 shows that among the 42 companies that successfully relocated their registered offices,One of them is a publicly traded company—This provides a clear path for those who follow: first, relocate the BVI/Cayman Islands entity to Hong Kong; then, take advantage of Hong Kong’s tax relief policies for family offices; and finally, restructure the equity, bring in strategic investors, and apply for a public listing.

For this type of company,The year 2026 is the optimal window of opportunity to establish a Hong Kong company.

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After reviewing the data and analysis from July 17, here are three practical recommendations for businesses that are currently registering or planning to register a company in Hong Kong.

Recommendation 1: Submit your application electronically to receive a waiver of the HK$1,720 registration fee.

Starting in July 2025, newly registered companies that submit the NNC1 formation form electronically,The company registration fee of 1,720 Hong Kong dollars, which would normally be due, has been fully waived.The

Paper applications are not eligible for fee reductions or exemptions.

For those of you who registered in the second half of this year, please remember toSubmit Entirely Online, and save that money.

Recommendation 2: Use the BRN number as a unique external identifier.

Since the full implementation of the UBI (Unique Business Identifier) at the end of 2023,The Business Registration Number (BRN) has replaced the Company Registration Number (CR No.)...serving as the company’s unique identifier in banking, tax, contract, and platform scenarios.

If your Hong Kong company is still using its CR number in external communications, you must switch to a new one now.

Suggestion 3: Hire a reputable secretarial service company to bundle ”support services” into a single package.

Starting in 2026, the scope of services provided by secretarial firms will be much broader than in the past: statutory secretary services, maintenance of registered addresses, renewal of business registration certificates, submission of annual returns, SCR beneficial owner registration, KYC due diligence, tax representation…

Find aA licensed secretarial firm that offers one-stop services...which is more convenient than piecing together individual services and helps avoid late payment penalties caused by service interruptions (HK$1,200–10,000 for the first late payment; starting at HK$30,000 for late payments of three months or more).

For companies currently on the fence: Registering a Hong Kong company in the second half of 2026,It’s not a question of whether to do it, but rather how to do it in the most cost-effective, compliant, and business-aligned way.

The data from July 17 has already provided the market with an answer—122,481 new companies, 1,609,700 total registrations, 70 applications for relocation of business registration, and 42 companies successfully established.

Your competitors are already taking action.