On 8th July 2009, Dr Karen Lai gave a talk titled 'The roles of Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing as financial centres in a China banking strategy' at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

The presentation and discussion focused on the qualitatively different strengths of these Chinese cities in regulatory and business environments, which resulted in their complementary roles as financial centres rather than a directly competitive relationship.

The locational and business strategies of foreign banks in China demonstrates the continuing importance of Hong Kong as an offshore financial centre for the mainland and as a gateway between China and global capital.

The contemporary topic attracted a full crowd, including political figures such as Anson Chan and representatives from banking and finance, research and consultancy, foreign chambers of commerce and the media.

After the event, Dr Lai gave a short radio interview to China Radio International (http://www.cri.cn/) on the development of financial centres in China and the significance of the current banking crisis for Asian economies.