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| Hong Kong rated world's freest economy ( 19/07/2004 ) | |||||||||
According to the Economic Freedom of the World: 2004 Annual Report, the city scored 8.7 out of a total of 10 points topping Singapore's 8.6, which ranked second. They were followed by Switzerland, the UK and the US, which tied for third place. China ranked 90 out of 123 nations for 2002, the most recent year for which data are available, according to the study. Apart from the overall top ranking, Hong Kong also rated first in three other categories of the index - the size of government, freedom to trade internationally and regulation to labour, credit and business. The findings of the international report followed closely on the heels of the overall economic freedom index rated by US think-tank, the Heritage Foundation, which ranked Hong Kong as the world's freest economy for the tenth straight year in 2004. Financial Secretary Henry Tang said Hong Kong has been topping the world's freest economy list since the index of economic freedom was first published in 1996. "A free market economy is the bedrock of Hong Kong's success. The Government will strive to maintain our institutional strengths including the rule of law, the free flow of capital and information, a level playing field, an efficient and corruption-free Government as well as a simple and low tax regime," added Mr Tang. Related links | |||||||||
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