Davos (Switzerland) (AFP)

"Hong Kong will rebound!": Hong Kong executive chief Carrie Lam worked this week in Davos to improve the image of the financial center, plunged into recession after several months of contestation and now confronted with the new coronavirus .

While the new virus has already infected more than 800 people in China, and officially two people in Hong Kong are carriers, Ms. Lam assured: "We have learned from the past", that is to say outbreak of Sras 17 years ago, which killed 299 people in the megalopolis.

"We have a protocol, we have the resources," she said, promising a daily update on the epidemic.

At the World Economic Forum, which brings together the world's economic elite until Friday in Switzerland, Ms. Lam insisted that Hong Kong remains "a wonderful financial center".

A seductive operation carried out at full speed in the ski resort with a large delegation of Hong Kong bosses and politicians.

"Hong Kong is wide open to business (...) We have the largest capital market in Asia, the most liquid, and the most diversified," said Laura Cha, president of the stock exchange operator HKEX during a dinner of dim sums (Chinese bites and dumplings), before a video showcases the region's assets.

After degraded and deserted streets under a stormy sky, we saw a bright sun suddenly light up the skyscrapers of the island with this slogan: "We are resistant. (...) We will rebound".

The former British colony, which was returned to mainland China in 1997 but enjoys a large autonomy, has known since June 2019 giant demonstrations frequently mobilizing millions of pro-democracy supporters.

Combined with the fallout from the Sino-American trade war, these events weighed on tourism and consumption, causing Hong Kong to fall into recession (2.9% decline in GDP in the third quarter).

- "Lack of tangible plans" -

Under the pressure of this popular discontent, Carrie Lam promised Davos to set up "an independent commission" to study the social causes of the dispute, acknowledging that the rents had become dizzying and the inequalities glaring.

But she also recalled her red lines on political demands: "Hong Kong is not a state, it is a special administrative region" of People's China.

She again ruled out any resignation: "Leaving the chief executive vacant would only create more chaos and confusion (...) as Hong Kong has to deal with a recession, political discontent and now a health crisis ".

Not sure that these assurances are enough to completely reassure business circles scalded by the escalation of the dispute.

The rating agency Moody's lowered its long-term rating on Hong Kong on Monday, lambasting "the lack of tangible plans to address the political, economic and social concerns of the population" and the reaction "particularly slow, shy and inconclusive "from the authorities.

Cold picked as soon as she arrived in Davos, Carrie Lam said on CNBC "very disappointed" with this decision.

- Reputation "at risk" -

Four months earlier it was Fitch who had lowered the Hong Kong sovereign rating, citing the uncertainty caused by closer integration with mainland China.

Hong Kong's independent judiciary has largely contributed to making it one of the major Asian financial centers, but protesters denounce Beijing's growing interference.

For its part, the US Congress adopted a resolution at the end of November supporting "human rights and democracy" in Hong Kong in the face of pressure from Beijing and threatening to suspend the special economic status granted to the territory.

In Davos on Thursday, David Chiu, head of the Hong Kong congress Far East Consortium, procrastinated: "In the long term, as a businessman, I sincerely believe that Hong Kong will recover".

This is because China "remains the best manufacturing country" in the world, he observed, saying he was certain that Hong Kong would remain the essential gateway for foreign capital to mainland China.

© 2020 AFP