Leave Li Ka-shing alone: Chinese newspaper says whether he pulls investments from mainland is just business, not an economic indicator
Beijing News latest to enter the fray, defending HK tycoon's decision to scale back after think tank said: 'Don't let Li Ka-shing run away'
Debate over tycoon Li Ka-shing's move to pull business out of China has sparked a furore on the mainland, with more media wading into the fray.
In the latest development, a commentary published yesterday in the , which is run by the capital's municipal propaganda department, defended Li's decision and warned against reading too much into the move.
It said in "the age of a globalised economy", it was a common strategy for business leaders to move their capital around the world for better returns.
"Li Ka-shing's leaving or staying actually is no indication of China's economy," the commentary, which was also carried by the website, said.
This came just a day after the , which is directly under , ran another critical commentary.
It named several reasons why Li was reorganising his business empire. It noted that the mainland property market had already seen a decade of fast expansion and prosperity and it was natural that Li wanted to cash out and lower his business risks.
The article also argued that any attempts to stop Li from moving his business out of China would be counterproductive, as it would scare away foreign investors who wanted to get into the mainland market.
It ended with the statement that the mainland needed more foreign capital that could "represent the future" and so people should "let Li Ka-shing go" because "the sky will not collapse".
The furore started last week when the Outlook Institution think tank, set up under the auspices of state news agency Xinhua, carried a strongly worded commentary.
It said Li had enjoyed a great run in mainland markets in the past decades largely because Beijing gave him preferential treatment. It argued that Li had "missions" to finish in China and he should not move out.
Li was held in high regard by many leaders, including former president Jiang Zemin .
The article said one of the missions pending for Li was to participate in more charity work and help tackle poverty on the mainland. "Don't let Li Ka-shing run away," it said.
The article was widely read and shared on the mainland, with people supporting or criticising it.
Yu Fenghui, a well-known mainland commentator on the economy, wrote on his blog yesterday that if Li was forced to stay on the mainland, it would only scare off potential investors.
In January, Li unveiled a sweeping restructuring of his business empire, switching its base of incorporation to the Cayman Islands from Hong Kong.
The restructuring, completed in June, merged all non-property businesses formerly owned by Li's two flagships - Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong (Holdings) - into CK Hutchison.
Asked yesterday if Li was pulling out of the mainland, a CK Hutchison spokesman referred to a statement released on Monday. It quoted Li's eldest son, Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, as denying the rumours. "Buying and selling activities are normal business activities," the statement said.
Terence Chong Tai-leung, an economics professor at Chinese University, said Li's decision to beef up investment in Europe was simply a business strategy to take advantage of Europe's economy. Products in Europe were cheaper than those on the mainland because Europe was in recession, he said.
